October 2010

"Halloweenie"(Term trademarked by EM Cyno Razik) festivities were a part of Pacific all throughout the month of October, and shard residents were presented with all sorts of fun things to do.

From EM's Kaz and Cyno started the action early on in the month with a series of events telling the story of the mysterious Phantom Rider and his ally the Halloweenie King. Both were eventually overtaken by the forces of good, and order restored to the lands(well, mostly).

Kaz and Cyno also sponsored a seasonal costume ball and contest on the 21st, as well, and seven awards were placed at the reward hall for the following winners:

Mesanna herself also appeared on Pacific later in the month to dye special jack o'lanterns spooky shades of black/yellow and black/red. She also played mediator for Kaz and Cyno's squabble. Result of their failure to kiss and make up: EM Dartboards.

This past Thursday was the start of the official UO Halloween event complete with pumpkin picking, trick or treating/begging, and feeding special treats to hell hounds for a chance to obtain a bloody sash. Warning: the treats cause aggression issues, so be careful if you try this.

Many players on Pacific seemed to particularly enjoy combing the farmers' fields to find special jack o'lanterns grown with names "carved" in them.

Luna City turned into Pumpkin Depot for everyone to drop off named pumpkins and jack o'lanterns they found. GANI[VK] undertook the laborious task of neatly stacking all the gourds and announcing the names of found ones in the general chat channel. Thank you GANI and everyone else who has helped unite lost pumpkins with their people.

If you still haven't found your personal jack o'lantern, keep checking Luna as well as the fields. They will be spawning for a while longer.

This last week and a half has left the players with numerous choices as to what to do. What with EM events running such as the Fall Festival Fishing Tournament and the Halloween Dungeon Crawl. To Mesanna taking the time last Sunday to visiting the shard for a few hours for the purpose of dying Jack O’ Lanterns black.

As years before for Halloween the fields around the land are spawning pumpkins and jack O’ Lanterns. The big change this year is that these ones have Catskills players’ names on them. To have a named pumpkin or Jack O’ Lantern spawn with your name on it. You need to be logged in game when it spawns.

If those events were not enough the players could trick or treat with the begging skill for candy and if you had enough skill maybe a rare item. Rumor has it that 4 new special items have been added this year for those skilled enough in begging.

Players also could take part in two new events one a live one and the other a Halloween one. The live one involves a quest giver stationed near the Trammel Britain Moongate. This quest giver ask for you to collect all the pieces of a virtue armor set, but the Cloak of Humility and return to him. {Arms of Compassion, Breastplate of Justice, Gauntlets of Valor, Gorget of Honesty, Helm of Spirituality, Legs of Honor, Sollerets of Sacrifice} All of these items can be found as virtue artifacts that sometime drop as loot in your backpack. You have to be in one of the anti-virtue dungeons {Covetous, Deceit, Despise, Destard, Hythloth, Shame, and Wrong} and you never know how many monsters you need to kill to get a drop. When you return to the quest giver with the proper items marked as quest items he will give you a replica of the Book of Truth.

The Halloween Event has a strange merchant standing near the Umbra Moongate selling Hellhound treats. Player can take these treats and feed them to a hellhound and watch it change into a Ancient Hellhound. Now this is a deadly beast but if you can defeat it there is a chance that you may find a Bloody Sash in your backpack. The sash has a fun special surprise if worn between midnight and six in the morning.

*** DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED BY WHAT THE BLOODY SASH DOES AND DO NOT WANT TIPS ON HOW TO GET ONE!***

The ancient Hellhounds are very tough opponents who will teleport players to them. It also can suppress your ability to move and cast fast. Throw in it having a fast damage regeneration rate and most players cannot handle one alone. However it does take more damage from cold based weapons and the mage 5th level spell Mind Blast.

The most popular way of getting the sash on Catskills right now is to lure a hellhound away from the Bane Camp near the Spirituality Moongate in Ilshenar to the Oaks Champion Spawn. Once close feed it the Hellhound treat and let the good aligned creatures there help attack it. The preferred method is to have a herder with you who can gather a large group of Ki-rin to help take down the ancient hell hound. (The ancient Hellhounds high damage regeneration rate makes it hard to kill if it is not taking high amounts of damage constantly.)

You may ask why I would want to go through all that trouble? The simple answer is to get the “Bloody Sash”. The sash turns the wearer into a werewolf at midnight in game and you will remain as one till 6 in the morning unless you remove the sash. Be warned though that if you are on a mount at midnight you will be dismounted, and you will not be able to take any other form while in werewolf form.

**What do you do with 20 ki-rin when the ancient Hellhound is dead? Why overrun the Bane camp of course.**

Market Day at the Trade Center, 11/20 @ 2 PM ESTSubmitted by the Lady Pandora, City Administrator for Vamp’s Lair

Hello everyone please join us on November 22nd, at 2 PM EST as we host our first Market Day at our new Trade Center in Umbra — yes practically IN Umbra. We will host this event every month on the third Saturday of the month. Merchants of the best skills will be on hand to provide almost anything you need.

Market Day is a special day that allows folks to interact with LIVE vendors, much like the olden days when folks would place their orders with the smiths that sat in front of the Hammer and Anvil in Britain. The concept is that we will take your orders, provided you come with your own materials (we will have some materials on hand, like iron ingots and wooden boards, but none of the specialty items), and fill them right there. Our merchants will be all LGM of their crafts (GM for some skills that do not have 100+ capabilities) and should be able to work with you to provide you whatever you need. You can come get your armor crafted, turn right around and get it imbued… you could order a woodworker to create for you a new living room for your house, or add that new add-on… you can get your ships’ goods made and finally equip it with those cannons you’ve been seeking… or perhaps you need a jeweler that can crank you out a new Pendant of the Magi… maybe you are seeking for really rare items to buy… or even something as simple as you need to replenish your recall charges on your runebooks… whatever your needs we will try our best to fill them.

Merchants, if you are interested in providing your services, please contact me at either ICQ 608083009 or email [email protected] — you can “rent a booth” at the market place, bring your BEST crafter (the one with the most recipes learned) or your BEST wares to sell, decorate your booth as you like, and even set up a 24 hr “assistant” (temporary vendor) to help you. The best decorated booth wins 100,000 gold courtesy of the Children of Darkness.

Captain Jenkin wishes to discuss the case of Blackrock smuggling this coming Monday at 5 PM PST. The good captain wants to hear from you of any new information avail, and also share some upcoming plans.

Saturday evening (October 30th. 2010) EM Kasaven and EM Barnaby summoned the players of the Catskills shard to the EM Hall in Britain for a special Halloween event. Queen Dawn had received reports that in two of the anti-virtues dungeons had strange armies gathering in them, and she desired to have these armies wiped out before they could cause problems for the fine citizens of the land. Dawn called on the people to assist her in clearing these dungeons of the threat. Her plan was to attack both locations at the same time so that none of these denizens of the dark places could escape. Kasaven explained that two magical gates had been placed and the members of the queens gathered forces had their choice of which one they wanted to go through. One gate would take you to Felucca and the other to Trammel. When he felt everyone understood and was ready Kasaven opened a gate to the location of where the two gates awaited everyone.This reporter followed the group that took the Trammel gate and found everyone gathered at the entrance to the dungeon Deceit. Coming in the entrance you were greeted by a sight of pure carnage as the forces of both sides clashed for control. The queens’ forces fighting for a foothold so they could move on into the dungeon and the undead trying their best to hold the entranceway.Slowly over time the queens volunteer troops pushed both the normal undead and the special army back and started moving down levels. Slaying anything that dared to challenge them as they advanced clearing every room they found. It was a long and bloody battle every step of the way but the army fought all the way to the very last room before declaring the job done.Everyone then returned to the EM Hall to share the news of the victory and see if anyone had found anything new and different. It was found out there that the Felucca force had also won out, and much faster than the Trammel force. A few people recovered pieces of armor with dried blood on them. (There were five pieces all together that made a suit. Though there was no headwear.) Plus many were spotted carrying new lanterns that they recovered from some of the undead monsters. (5 of these lanterns were in Felucca and five to ten in Trammel. There were also two different types of Lanterns.)

EM Kasaven then asked if everyone was up to killing one more thing. Most of the crowd gave an enthusiastic yes so Kasaven arranged for Neira to be placed in the dungeon that was just cleared and opened a gate for those who wanted to kill it. The group rushed through the gate and made quick work of the monster, before returning back to the EM Hall to thank Kasaven and Barnaby for such a fun evening.

(On a side note Kasaven mentioned that the Fall Festival will be continuing this week with such events such as a race, pet show, PvM contest, PvP contest and a story night. So keep checking here or at the EM’s Page for more information.)

Charlemagne, Ancient Greeter & Caretaker of the Baja Community Center (inside Luna, Northwest Corner), informed me that ALL Named Jack O Lanterns dropped off at the Community Center will be made available for Owners to claim them at Owners Convenience.

A Mailbox is there for when Charlemagne is away to eat, sleep, or bathe.

Also, Names of Unclaimed Jack O Lanterns will be posted to this Thread on a regular basis.

Any Jack O Lanterns belonging to Red Characters will be delivered to Felucca once Owner contacts Charlemagne by General Chat.

Charlemagne THANKS all who are collecting Jack O Lanterns for the Community Center, All who claim theirs, and all helping in every other way.

Back in late August EM Kasaven announced that EM Nathael was stepping down from his position after a short period of time there, and was being replaced by an EM Barnaby. The fine people of Catskills got their introduction to him on the 23 of August at an “EM Meet and Greet”. Though because of a discussion over the Royal Guard on the same evening his introduction was a bit overshadowed and players did not get a feel for what he was like.

In the following weeks EM Barnaby held a treasure hunting event and supported EM Kasaven in the “Fallen into Darkness” story line as he learned to master his skills as an EM. Through these events Barnaby showed a charm and a quick wit as he grew more comfortable in his new position. Of course he had been partnered with the beloved Kasaven so he could not have a better person to learn the ropes of the position with.In the middle of October it was announced that to open a Fall Festival and celebrate EM Barnaby lasting a month on the job there was to be a party at the fairgrounds. When a crowd had gathered at the stage area EM Barnaby placed a table in front of him and put a large stack of Sashes with his greeting on them on top of the table. Before he knew what was happening an imp appeared from nowhere and grabbed his sashes. The imp taunted both EM’s and then dared everyone to catch him, only leaving a riddle as to where he could be found. With his riddle said the imp disappeared and the EM’s asked the players help in solving the previously offered riddle. The gathered members of the Catskills community quickly left the Fair Grounds hoping to solve the riddle and save EM Barnaby’s sashes. The imp was soon found in Ilshenar near the Honesty gate where everyone was summoned to demand the Sashes from the troublesome imp. The Imp was not done though and it summoned many powerful monsters to do battle in its name. (One of the more powerful monsters was a Mongbat, giving raise to the rumor that EM Barnaby was involved in a Mongbat attack on New Haven a few days previously. This reporter cannot confirm this story as I did not witness the Mongbat attack.) after a very bloody battle the players carried the day and the imp was forced to return the pilfered sashes to EM Barnaby.After the battle everyone returned to the Fair Grounds where Barnaby had tables ready with food and drink. Standing on one of the tables EM Barnaby laid the sashes down beside him and announced that he was going to hand the sashes out as his welcome to the Catskills shard. Unfortunately the imp must have cursed the sashes before handing them over, because the Sashes fell through the table where EM Barnaby could not reach them. Luck was with him though for Mesanna showed up and helped lift the sashes on the table so that everyone in attendance could have one.Since that evening EM Barnaby held a morning fishing tournament and took the time to listen to players, at a popular player ran tavern, as they voiced their concerns over the old Kinship Tavern and what it meant to so many. He even went with them to visit the old tavern location so he could get a better feel of what they spoke about.

EM Barnaby has shown a willingness to speak, joke and listen to the Catskills player based the short time he has been here. So do not be scared to say hi to him and engage him in conversation. Just be very careful if there is a Mongbat in the general area. It may be a killer.

Every Shard is unique, since The Shattering, they have become a myriad of entities adding a different bit of spice to our daily lives. Today my travels land me upon the Baja shard at the Skara Brae Festival.

The evening started off with a flair as the Seer Chrysania arrived, a spooky story contest ensued that left chills running down a few spines. Excitement grew as the Seer put their own safety on the line. Placing an apple upon head, and invited all to an archery contest. Many competed with glee, but I laughed as this fellow walked up to take aim.

Touches his lips and blows her a kiss before aiming - Nicholas the Old

You can imagine the happy festival goers surprise when a spirit roused from its rustlings in the afterlife. Hearing of this frivolity upon our lands took exception to the nature of this contest. Just after the successful conclusion of this contest an angry ghost sprang from the ground. William Tell himself arrived to challenge our adventurous friends.

I must admit , I myself was knocked over the head with what I suspect may have been one of Williams well aimed and deadly apples...Once the rowdy spirit was sent back to his well deserved rest, the people enjoyed a bit of Pumpkin Soccer while others of us visited the local fair booths that were set up. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, meeting an old widow who read your fates from a stack of cards.

As a new day dawned upon the Baja shard, I found myself in a new location. Ale, being a love of mine, and finding myself of a particular thirst. I arrived at a tavern run by the Kingdom of Dawn. Escorted by Duchess Wildstar and Old Nicholas I met the vast array of tavern-goers.

The usually tranquil and informative biweekly gathering of the player cities from around the realm took an unexpected twist this past Wednesdays eve as tragedy struck within the very walls of the Queen's castle. The evening began with the usual greetings and banter as several announcements and inquiries were made.

Gyldenfeld: Announced a group or "sailors" as they were termed had requested a permit to operate in the normally loyal waters and areas in and around Gyldenfeld. The Mayor inquired asto such a permit affecting thier status as a loyal ally of the crown.

Guardians Gate: Inquired about the current status of the Livery quest with regards to the next installment. Also inquired about the cities request for backup forces yet to be seen to investigate recent attacks on the city.

Silvervale: Inquired about the process of editing the tables nameplates to updated ambassadors from each city.

Paxlair: Requested the proper method of inquiry in regards to the construction of a city dock facility.

The floor was then closed to open discussion as a familiar figure emerged in the doorway. Kendrick Morrow the Magician introduced himself to those in attendance and requested the groups attention to wonder and amaze as he did his best to impress Ambassador Zodok. Appearing atop the grand table, his best parlor tricks and slight of hand in two the crowd became bewildered by his enchanting display.

As quickly as it began the show soon turned toward its eventual dark path. The Magician disappeared, taking with him Ambassador Zodok. Instead of a wonderous finale to his sideshow, Blistering Infernos poured into the room slaying all those in thier path. The crowd battling for life and limb did not see the exit of Kendrick with Zadok. They simply vanished into thin air...

The call to arms answered and the infernos beaten the trusted warrior Drake Foxx soon arrived to assess the situation. Advised of the missing Ambassador, he led the summit out to seek any sign of thier dissappearance. Instructed to search the confines of the city, platers soon spotted a naked and dazed Kendrick the Magician along the southeast shores of Britian bond inside the guard tower.

It wasnt long before the discovery made it way back to Drake as he arrived to question and examine the magician. He remembered nothing of the nights events nor even visiting the castle.

It was duely noted a large wound was found on the back of the magicians head as apparently we had all been victims of an elaborate rouse! The magician we thought to be Kendrick was not him at all.

The suspicious group then escorted Kendrick to the castle to aid in the investigation. Analyzing the magical residue left from the nights "magic show" Kendrick was able to determine the suspect had used a braclet of binding to transport the Ambassador to an unknown location. Hurriedly the group rushed to aid the missing Ambassador only to find they were too late! The Royal Ambassador Tavalia Zodok was found dead and alone with her throat cut....

Shocked by the nights events, the crowd mourned the loss of the revered Ambassador. The only clues left on the scene were the clothes stolen from Kendrick himself. Foxx swore to us all the one responsible for this would soon answer for his or her actions.

With mixed emotions the crowd in attendance knew not wether Kendrick could be trusted. After leaving the scene of the murder Morrow was escorted back to the city of Britain and remanded into the protective custody as he was admitted into the healers to mend his wounds.

The realm know seeks the truth to who or what was behind this grizzly act of treachery inside Castle British. Who could pull off such a brash scheme? What motive have they do take the very life of public servant on the realm? No one can be sure as rumors and conspiracy theories abound. We trust there will be swift justice in the matter. Rest in Peace Lady Zodok....

Ahhhh.......Halloween and everything is orange.Once again the Gods of UO have given us great halloween events and joy. Needless to say Trick or Treating is back. My sweet tooth thanks thee. We even have a new halloween costume this year.

It seems as of recent it is the traditional orange round shaped object that brings us together.With the fields spawning player named pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns people seem to be looking out for friends, guild mates and familar faces.

Some people have even taken the time to gather pumpkins and drop them in common places so people can find their named keepsakes.Below is a screenshot of the Brit Bank two days ago.

Mailboxes have been the perfect way of passing pumpkins along while people are off line. Sad to say but I tried Lady Silverbrooks two mailboxes but they would not let me drop. It is bad enough her home town has been in disarray for so long, death surrounding her on all sides and now her mailboxes do not seem to work.

Not only are people exchanging in the realm but MalagAste has started a thread on the Great Lakes boards for exchanges. A great idea for sure.

At this time I would like to send a shout out to Lady Devika and thank her again. She found a Lava Jack-O-Lantern ( with a sad/evil face my favorite )and passed it along to me.

Every Shard is unique, since The Shattering, they have become a myriad of entities adding a different bit of spice to our daily lives. Today my travels land me upon the Baja shard at the Skara Brae Festival.

The evening started off with a flair as the Seer Chrysania arrived, a spooky story contest ensued that left chills running down a few spines. Excitement grew as the Seer put their own safety on the line. Placing an apple upon head, and invited all to an archery contest. Many competed with glee, but I laughed as this fellow walked up to take aim.

Touches his lips and blows her a kiss before aiming - Nicholas the Old

You can imagine the happy festival goers surprise when a spirit roused from its rustlings in the afterlife. Hearing of this frivolity upon our lands took exception to the nature of this contest. Just after the successful conclusion of this contest an angry ghost sprang from the ground. William Tell himself arrived to challenge our adventurous friends.

I must admit , I myself was knocked over the head with what I suspect may have been one of Williams well aimed and deadly apples...Once the rowdy spirit was sent back to his well deserved rest, the people enjoyed a bit of Pumpkin Soccer while others of us visited the local fair booths that were set up. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, meeting an old widow who read your fates from a stack of cards.

As a new day dawned upon the Baja shard, I found myself in a new location. Ale, being a love of mine, and finding myself of a particular thirst. I arrived at a tavern run by the Kingdom of Dawn. Escorted by Duchess Wildstar and Old Nicholas I met the vast array of tavern-goers.

I have a knack for picking up on the odd and unusal and my eyes landed happily on the wondering brigand that arrived. He, hearing of this tavern was giving away free ale had arrived to make use of their generosity. As I am quite covetous of ale, I snaked one of the bottles away before he had a chance to make off with to much of it.

Once more, I found myself researching in Library Britannia's vacuous halls. Though brigands have played many a role in our history, from allying with orcs and undead to random thievery, I think my favorite bit of info revolved around this article that I pulled from the archives:

After reading this excerpt I gave a small laugh only to find the following picture..To which I blushed a bit.

As the eve concluded my mind settled upon the Pirate, Walker they called him, that sat just a table over from me. Walker, in all his bare chested glory,left me in a bit of a dazed musing about where my next adventure would take me. It is at this time that I found myself suddenly longing to set sail and answer the call of the sea....

Reporters Log: I would like to thank the various guilds and people that I met on Baja, The Kingdom of Dawn and the BRPA were especially helpful to me. I would like to note tha BRPA(Baja roleplaying and event alliance) has banded together with various shards, to support each other rply, it is for those who wish to be unaffiliated to enjoy roleplay freely without a guild. They have been known to aide other shards in fulfilling requests for whatever villain or victim the roleplay requires. Baja and Chesapeake also bounce back and forth, holding cross shard Roleplay nights welcoming all. If you would like more info on this, I invite you to visit the Stractics Baja or Chesapeake forum to learn more of this truly unique experience.

DATE: 31st of October 2010TIME: 8pm GMT (UK Time), 9pm Central European Time (CET), 4pm Eastern Daylight Time (America doesn't change from Daylight time until November 7th so New York is 4 hours behind UK from tonight, Use that to convert if your in any other US timezone)LOCATION: Counsellor's Hall

It's Halloween and the link with the Spiritworld is at its strongest - come and hear a brief cautionary tale from Nathan Hawke and be prepared for a twist in the tale!

Please double check the times, Europe and the UK change to Winter time Sunday 31st at 2am UK Time.

The sly and tricky little orange man, known as Farmer Jack. Invited citizens from around the Realm to play a little game he likes to call, Puzzlin' Pumpkin Patch!

Puzzlin' Pumpkin Patch "Da way it works is dis...

One at o' time I bring ya into da Pumpkin Patch. One pumpkin in each set will advance ye closer to da scarecrow. The other three will be takin into da giant pumpkin o'death. It be awfully dangerous down there. Ye best bet is to run through and get to the exit gate at the end. Which will bring ye back here. Don't go tryin to fight da bad guys Dey got nothin on em, as far as treasure goes. Da only treasure be at da end o'da patch. Each time someone solves da puzzle, I be shiftin the order around.

Make it to da scarecrow at da end And ye can get your very own Pumpkin Carin' Kit!"

After many attempts to figure out the sequence, Demon Slayer [VIPs] was the first one to solve the puzzle and claim one of many, Farmer Jack's Pumpkin Carving Kit - Happy Halloween Chesapeake 2010.

Once the puzzle was solved, Farmer Jack shuffled the pumpkins around and a new sequence was put into place. Many players watched and took notes in hopes of figuring out the sequence, in case the person in the pumpkin patch failed.

And if they did fail........

The pumpkin swallowed them whole and sent them crashing into the huge Pumpkin O'death!!! Little pests that you would normally not hesitate to use a fly swatter on, were now massive attacking monsters! Some thought they were fast enough to get away, but just when they felt safe, they began sinking into the pumpkin guts! It was like something straight out of a nightmare! Some made it out alive.....some did not....

*Spooky Hand Movements*

After everyone was given a chance to solve the pumpkin sequence, Jack crawled into the pumpkin and left the crowed wanting more....

Last evening Legends had its monthly Battle Chicken Lizard tournament, and with ever increasing publicity and participation, this night was quite entertaining.

While waiting for the event to begin, audience members were trying on diffrent Halloween costumes, trying to decide what to wear Trick-or-Treating this year. EM Helios even gave us a peek at what he was considering for his Halloween costume.

When the clock struck 9 and all were gathered the brackets were made and the fights begun.

Right off the bat the audience could tell that this tournament would see the rise of powerful new Battle Chicken Lizard stars. Chickens such as; "Ive clucked for Less", "The Great Milenko", and "Blue" will soon become house hold names in the chicken lizard arena.

Four extreme rounds of combat later we were down to the finals, Hunter S Tompson and "The Great Milenko" versus Derick Akin and "Blue".

In the end it was Hunter and "The Great Milenko" who took the champions seat!

I caught up with Hunter S Tompson today for a brief interview:

Me: So, Whats it like being the Mike Tyson of the Battle Chicken World?

Hunter: *Pauses a moment to think* I suppose its exciting getting to feel like your really good ( or lucky) at something. Gives me something to look forward to, and my competitive nature makes me allways wanna stay on top.

Me: How do you always come up with such powerful battle chickens? Any tips for up and commers?

Hunter: The best tip I could give would be to focus on the Hit Points and Physical Resist of your Chicken Lizard. A ten point diffrence in Hit Points is just a couple of hits, but the damage you shave off with higher Physical Resist will put you ahead in the long run.

Me: Where did King of da Burbz retire to?

Hunter: He is hanging out at the KofS guildhouse, with a harem of lady chicken lizards, hopefully breeding a new generation of champs.

Me: Out of all the competition last night was there any one chicken that gave you a scare?

Hunter: Gosh, what was that black one's name? He is overall the best chicken lizard I've seen so far based on stats. He has crazy hp, max physical resist and as long as that chicken is around no one has it in the bag.

Me: I agree fully, and i think that chicken was named "Ive Clucked for Less"

Me: Last question then, Had Tyrant and Special been there would the outcome of been diffrent? Or is this new chicken going to reign for a few months again?

Hunter: I guess we will have to wait and see, I have alot of faith in my new chicken its HP isn't quite as high as "Ive Clucked for Less's" but he is close enough with a little luck on his side he can stand toe to toe with any I've seen.

Me: That and Tyrants chicken is indeed "Special"'

Hunter: Yeah one moment he is staring at the wall, the next he has your chicken by the throat.

Me: Thank you for the interview Hunter. I look forward to next months battles. Good luck, with the new competition we have been getting we will all need it.

Hunter: Thank you very much, I hope we have a good turn out, I wish everyone luck, and most important that we all continue to have fun with it.

Last evening Legends had its monthly Battle Chicken Lizard tournament, and with ever increasing publicity and participation, this night was quite entertaining.

While waiting for the event to begin, audience members were trying on diffrent Halloween costumes, trying to decide what to wear Trick-or-Treating this year. EM Helios even gave us a peek at what he was considering for his Halloween costume.

When the clock struck 9 and all were gathered the brackets were made and the fights begun.

Right off the bat the audience could tell that this tournament would see the rise of powerful new Battle Chicken Lizard stars. Chickens such as; "Ive clucked for Less", "The Great Milenko", and "Blue" will soon become house hold names in the chicken lizard arena.

Four extreme rounds of combat later we were down to the finals, Hunter S Tompson and "The Great Milenko" versus Derick Akin and "Blue".

In the end it was Hunter and "The Great Milenko" who took the champions seat!

I caught up with Hunter S Tompson today for a brief interview:

Me: So, Whats it like being the Mike Tyson of the Battle Chicken World?

Hunter: *Pauses a moment to think* I suppose its exciting getting to feel like your really good ( or lucky) at something. Gives me something to look forward to, and my competitive nature makes me allways wanna stay on top.

Me: How do you always come up with such powerful battle chickens? Any tips for up and commers?

Hunter: The best tip I could give would be to focus on the Hit Points and Physical Resist of your Chicken Lizard. A ten point diffrence in Hit Points is just a couple of hits, but the damage you shave off with higher Physical Resist will put you ahead in the long run.

Me: Where did King of da Burbz retire to?

Hunter: He is hanging out at the KofS guildhouse, with a harem of lady chicken lizards, hopefully breeding a new generation of champs.

Me: Out of all the competition last night was there any one chicken that gave you a scare?

Hunter: Gosh, what was that black one's name? He is overall the best chicken lizard I've seen so far based on stats. He has crazy hp, max physical resist and as long as that chicken is around no one has it in the bag.

Me: I agree fully, and i think that chicken was named "Ive Clucked for Less"

Me: Last question then, Had Tyrant and Special been there would the outcome of been diffrent? Or is this new chicken going to reign for a few months again?

Hunter: I guess we will have to wait and see, I have alot of faith in my new chicken its HP isn't quite as high as "Ive Clucked for Less's" but he is close enough with a little luck on his side he can stand toe to toe with any I've seen.

Me: That and Tyrants chicken is indeed "Special"'

Hunter: Yeah one moment he is staring at the wall, the next he has your chicken by the throat.

Me: Thank you for the interview Hunter. I look forward to next months battles. Good luck, with the new competition we have been getting we will all need it.

Hunter: Thank you very much, I hope we have a good turn out, I wish everyone luck, and most important that we all continue to have fun with it.

Catch of the Week and Congrats to...Sons of the Sea, Trinsic Monday October 25, 2010 - Sunday, October 31, 2010

The Sons of the Sea will be hosting a "Catch of the week" every Sunday night from 8:30pm - 9:00pm ET. This weeks fish is the Great Barracuda, found in the Felucca deep waters. The only fish you should be turning in are Great Barracudas. They must have a date stamp for being caught this week. Any fish caught before this week will not count.

Last weeks winner for the Holy Mackerel goes to Lady Sushi of Dragons Watch. Sushi [DWxC] reeled in a massive Holy Mackerel with a weight of 152stones!!! You can view her fish on display at the Sons of the Sea building, located in Trinsic Trammel. Congratulations Lady Sushi for winning last weeks catch!

Your fish could be the next on display, so get out there and catch those Great Barracudas. You will find official records of this continuing event in the Chesapeake Shard Directory. We hope to see some, as Santiago would say "BEEEG FEEESH!"

Are you looking for a nonstop banquet of open-world player versus player mayhem? Do you have what it takes to hold onto what’s yours with an iron grip while assassinating your fellow Britannians and laughing at their ghosts? Are you looking for a real challenge, taking on your fellow Sosarians in an epic battle for PvP bragging rights?

Well then, make your reservations now! This Halloween, the Ultima Team is proud to bring you the latest in murder and mayhem vacation technology in our revamped resort destination, the Shard of the Dead! In this ultimate retreat from the mortal coil, our guests are encouraged to stick a knife in the back of anyone they can, and to enjoy the lovely grayscale view while spending time as a ghost. Our resort amenities include:

All town guards except the ones in Britain have been sent on holiday

Dark Towers of Death guarded by hordes of undead minions

Glass Swords of Shattering, for one-shot smackdown fun!

Accelerated skill and stat gain and one Advanced Character Token per guest

Permanent worldwide darkness, as we’ve banished the sun!

Kill and death stat tracking. How many can YOU slay?

If this sounds like your idea of fun, then look for Shard of the Dead (SOTD) on the UO server list, log in, and let your inner rabid monster come out and play. Some important notes:

Shard of the Dead will only run through December to give you a taste of the mayhem.

Test Center giveaways and commands are disabled – you start with minimal gold and gear!

There are no item insurance or blessings (except spellbooks and runebooks)

Dark Towers are near the Virtue Shrines

To get a Glass Sword, stand atop a Tower and survive for 30 seconds!

Gold in most monster loot drops has been doubled

It’s all in good fun, so enjoy it!

This is a taste of gameplay not seen in UO for some time. Enjoy and we hope to slay you there...Muahahahaha!

Edited 1:50PM EDT: To resolve and prevent an issue with some servers experiencing stability issues we are restarting all shards for a brief update at 2:00PM EDT. We anticipate all shards to be online by 3:00PM EDT, including Catskill and Legends which are currently offline.

We once again thank you for your patience and cooperation.

With this maintenance the following change in 68.3 has been removed:

Purchasing items while from vendors using funds in a player's bank will now be taken from check form if gold coins are not present in a players bank.

To resolve and prevent an issue with some servers experiencing stability issues we are restarting all shards for a brief update at 1:30PM EDT. We anticipate all shards to be online by 2:30PM EDT, including Catskill and Legacy which are currently offline.

We have brought the Catskills and Legends Shards offline for immediate maintenance. At this time we anticipate that both Shards will be back online no later than 2:00 PM EDT. Please be sure to check the Herald for updates regarding this downtime.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your continued support.

Ultima Online - Classic PvP server is back online!

Submitted by George Vanous on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 07:17.

Ultima Online announced today the release of a classic shard based on the “old school” PvP server!

The new "Shard of the Dead" is an attempt to gauge the interest levels of re-opening a full-blown "old school" PvP server. UO producer Cal Crowner hopes this will excite the players who preferred the classic free-form gameplay of Ultima Online with harsh consequences when your character is defeated by another.

Shard of the Dead will remain open for one to two months, depending on the player response.

Here is a look at the features for this new server.

Features of "Shard of the Dead"

No items will be blessed, except for spellbooks of all types, and runebooks

Item insurance system disabled

Always nighttime

No handouts for new players, start the game as you are and work hard to achieve things in game

Accelerate skill gain 10X so players can get to max level quickly

Only Felucca facet will exist

Allow Glass Sword of Shattering (one shot kill sword that shatters when used. Players can only have one at a time and never trade/sell them)

2.Wake up with a boat covered in loot, as a Grandmaster Fisherman, with Cear and yourself wearing wedding dresses and one of the most notorious thieves in Britannia telling you there are pumpkins with your name on them in your mailbox.

All shards will be restarted tonight at 10:00PM EDT to resolve an issue with this evenings publish. We apologize for this additional inconvenience and expect all shards to be back online by 11:00PM EDT. Thank you for your continued patience.

Publish 68.3 will be released to all shards at 5:00PM EDT today, we apologize for the inconvenience but want to ensure players are able to fully enjoy the Halloween Event. Additionally, Origin will be open once again at the conclusion of the downtime. We estimate the update to be completed by 8:00PM EDT.

A full list of notes for this publish are available - enjoy and have a happy Halloween!

Publish 68.3

Halloween Event

A mysterious merchant has appeared near the Umbra moongate selling treats for hellhounds. Little is known of his motive, but know that giving treats to hellhounds this time of year is not for the faint of heart!

Enjoy trick or treating with the town NPCs! There are 4 new items that you may get. Be sure your begging skills are up to the challenge!

Live Event

There is a new quest giver in Trammel Britain by the moongate. Visit him to find out how you can get a replica of the Book of Truth.

Those who are loyal to the Bane Chosen can visit Trammel Magincia and seek out Miegen for a quest. You will need 7500 loyalty with the Bane Chosen to get his quest.Loyalty cap for the Bane Chosen, the Meer, and the Ophidians has been raised to 10,000.

Saltpeter is now a mineable resource – Need High Seas Entitlement

Frequency of discovery and size of deposits depends on mining skill and luck

Mine the niter deposit to obtain saltpeter

Niter deposits will decay over time if not mined

New Rare Crab and Lobster Trophy’s

Enchanted and Legendary Crabs and Lobsters can now be turned into trophy’s via the Taxidermy Kit.

Bug Fixes

Made a channel in the sea market so boats can get in and out a little easier. This will be marked by bouys.

Fixed an issue with not being able to access cargo holds while the boat is moving

You will no longer be able to cast field spells on stairs

Players will no longer be able to scuttle a ship in Trammel

If you are a ghost on a scuttled ship you can now debark your ship to your last valid terrain location by using the mooring lines.

Cannon ammunitition will no longer lose its price or reset the price of a container on server maintenance on your vendor.

Players now have a 100% chance to get sand when mining for this resource.

Purchasing items while from vendors using funds in a player's bank will now be taken from check form if gold coins are not present in a players bank.

Pirate boats will no longer continue to fire their cannons after the captain and crew are dead

Players will no longer be able to kill captured Pirates from other players boats

All fishing will now act like every other resource gathering in the game. If an area is fished out you will get a message stating so with an exception to Lobsters. Lobster and Crabs are considered as different resources and are taken from a different resource table.

Swing speed for Throwing weapons has been corrected you will now be able to reach 1.25s.

Saltpeter is now traded as a commodity, with unlimited availability but subject to price adjustment

Shopkeepers will now buy back commodities at 75% of their asking price, instead of never offering more than the base price

Commodity deeds may now be filled from a boat hold

Commodity deeds may be redeemed in a boat hold, if the contents of the deed will fit in the hold

Guards can no longer be called on Pirates

Players will now insta log at the Winds Tavern at the sea market

An issue was fixed that caused the lobster traps to be destroyed faster than they should have been.

Fixed an issue with guild/non-guild ship access

Sails will no longer cause ownership issues with your ships

Fishmonger quests require the exactly amount being asked for put in the crates. You can no longer remove the crate from the hold, if you quit the quest the fish will automatically be placed in your pack or in your hold.

Enhanced Client

Equipped items no longer grey out on the hotbar

Runes in the runebook will now properly display past the 12th entry.

Classic Client

Death vortexes and sparkles now animate properly.

Fixed rare cases of mobs not animating properly.

The transparency of sails on ships no longer flicker when a ship moves.

We're still looking for some of the rarer fish. Have you seen them? What do they look like? Where did you catch them? If you can help us fill in the gaps please email to: [email protected], [email protected] or you can just send a pm to Petra Fyde.

We are aware of an issue in which players are unable to access the Origin Shard. Due to this we are bringing Origin offline immediately to investigate the cause. We apologize for the short notice and are working to have the server back online as soon as possible. We'll provide any additional updates or information here, thank you for your patience.

A letter was found at Castle British in which threats are expressed against Queen Dawn and the population. Keith the royal Investigator got the order to find a solution for that problem. Please meet him at the throne room of Castle British.

A lot of people went to the castle to see whats going on. Keith came to tell his concerns about this letter that was found . He asked the citizens if they could help with his investigations. Of course as always they where there to help to protect Queen Dawn.

Everyone spread out the lands but soon enough they found the warehouses in Jhelom and East Britain Burning.

After the discoveries of the burning warehouses they all ran back to the castle to report there findings to Keith. Keith could only go ask Daliah the Royal Warlord if she could help with this new problem. Daliah was asked to help us to put out the fires. But when we arrived at the Britain warehouse a new threat appeared. Dozens of Terathans where waiting for us. We had the stop these eight legged freaks and put out the fires. A hard battle was ahead of us.

With a lot of team work we could take these spiders down one by one. Then a Terathan Spider appeared.

We took her and her warlords down.

I found some strange bags on one of the warlords. I picked it up and showed it to Daliah.

These Terathans are hereto destroy and poison our food supplies. that would be a real danger for the citizens of Britania. We had to prevent this. We should go to Jhelom warehouse and clean the Spider infestation there too but first we had to make a stop for repairs and new supplies at the bank.

Onward to Jhelom! We found another large group of Terathans waiting for us at the warehouse of Jhelom. We knew better prepared this time now we knew what danger we are up against.

Taking down all the Terathan warlords another of there queen appeared. Several might greater dragons where ordered to attack her.

After several minutes of fighting the queen the last of the arachnid danger was slained! We stopped another threat but a lot was lost. Warehouses where burned down and a lot of food was lost. It will take time to rebuild and restock this lost.

It was good that ones again that a lot of citizens came to help Queen Dawn to protect the lands. But ones again there was a high priced to be payed for freedom and peace. And maybe this is just a beginning of a new threat!

I thought Charnel Hill would be the perfect end to my Halloween postings. [I do warn you that this is a very picture heavy post]

This town is located just off the N/E side of Umbra on the Atlantic shard.

The largest building in the town is the Charnel Hill Cemetery. It's located just a few steps to the North of the town banner.

Directly to the west of the Cemetery is Morn Cirith, Tower Of Necromancy.

Behind the Tower Of Necromancy and Charnel Hill Cemetery is the Scholomance.

The titles you see on the shelves include Teachings Of Oblivion, Propaganda, Foreign Culture, Dark Lore, and Rituals. The bookshelves on the first floor are open to the public, but the darker book titles are found in the basement and are off limits to the public.

The Shunned House can be found to the N/E of the Scholomance.

The last building I'll be showing you is the Mausoleum Of Enmity, Located in the next clearing to the N/E.

These are not the only buildings located in Charnel Hill so I highly suggest a visit if you're looking for a spooky location to visit for Halloween!

Would you like your town or home spotlighted? Do you have a favorite house or even favorite decorator you'd like to see interviewed? PM or ICQ me! I have a running list of future spotlight homes, as well as a list of future articles/tutorials on things like Beds, Storage Ideas, Couches, Kitchens etc.

Early last Sunday morning eager fishermen gathered on the docks in Britain (Trammel) to take part in the second event of the Catskills Fall festival. New EM Barnaby, whom hosted the event, was there in a dapper fishing hat to sign people up for the event and explain the rules to the Festival Fishing Tournament. EM Kasaven also showed for a short time but had leave to take care of some business, but he did return again after the event was over.

The rules were very simple. Everyone was to fish for an hour and then return to the docks. The fishermen who returned with the largest fish caught within that hour would be declared the winner.

At the appointed start time all but one of the fishermen rushed to their ships and headed out for deep water in search of the one fish that would bend their poles in half and win them the competition. Though this being an EM sponsored event there were a few surprises, as all the fishermen soon learned. For rising from the depths to attack these fishermen every once in a while was a mighty kraken. No deaths were reported though luckily as the fishermen proved that they could defend their selves. Though the lone fishermen who lacked the skills to fish the deep waters, that had stayed behind to fish off the docks, had an unusual colored kraken that looked hungry attack him on the docks.

When the fishing hour had ended the fishermen returned to see EM Barnaby. Most of them with empty hands but still enthusiastic to see who had caught the largest fish. The winner turned out to be David Ledatic, from the ORT “Order of the Roundtable” guild, who pulled in a respectable 123 stone fish. EM Barnaby took to winning fish and stated that he would have it mounted and put on display at the Rewards Hall.

Afterwards while chatting to the gathered fishermen EM Barnaby also said he was hoping to hold more morning events in the future, mostly on the weekends though. So those of you who have a schedule that kept you from taking part in many of the EM events may have chance to do some now.

The Church Of Candy [Owned By A Candy Pixie]Located at the Red and Purple Mini Mall in the woods of Yew.

The Red and Purple mini mall has it's own town including the Church of Candy, a Pub and Museum. The Church is one of the more unique homes I've seen on Atlantic and has some very cool deco touches including the belfry.

Upon entering you're greeted by the scents of many many pieces of candy.

Up on the altar you'll see the Bible of Candy.

You will see a second book on the first floor with the Ten Commandments of the chuch.

I hope none of you are breaking these commandments or no Halloween goodies for you!

The second floor houses candy by the box and barrel for future use.

The belfry can only be accessed via ladder from the second floor. Beware of sticking your head up there though, There's many bats that call it home.

I will be spawning one Harrower a day every day this week, any that are interested may attend.

Event: Pirate Hunt!Dates: 10/27/10Location: Fel OceanTime: 6-9pm EST

The Dread Pirate Drac, who has "visited" some of your boats already, will be visiting all the major islands of Felucca. His treasure hold will be overflowing with ill gotten gains, and his undead minions will do just about anything to protect him and their treasure.

Anyone who's boat is sunk, adds to the collected treasure, in addition the first five victims will be offered the chance to become part of the undead crew.

Everyone is invited for some SPOOKTACULAR FUN in the Great Lakes Majestic Oaks Auction House on Thursday October 28th at 8pm Central (6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern) with Trick or Treat Bags for all, a Mini Auction, Games & Prizes and Mystery Chests.

The Majestic Oaks Auction [MOA] house is located near the Buc's Den portal outside of Vesper (Trammel). Broadcasted live on Whispering Rose Radio (www.wrrad.com)

The Skull calls out to the evil and the twisted, to those of shadow and darkness: “Come and break the world. Grind Virtue’s bones and drink good’s blood. For he will choose only a few, and the rest he will cast into the fire. All the living will be tested.”

Event for the evil of Sosaria, Wednesday, October 27th, at 9 p.m. CDT, starting at the Britain Counselor Hall.

After hearing rumors of the place, I decided to venture out in search of the fabled Red Skull Bay. Red Skull Bay is located on the Catskills Shard on the mainland to the North East of the main Isle of Jhelom. The town was built along the beach at the end of the peninsula forming the southern edge of the bay. With pirate ships roaming the seas to the south, the town is well located to feast upon the bounty from the merchants sailing from the Jhelom Docks.

The central point of the town is the “Jolly Roger Inn”. Despite the pirate flag out front, the inn has a welcoming appearance with a grand staircase leading up to a tavern on the 2nd floor. It is only when you descend the stairs to the lower level that the sinister nature of the place is revealed. Though it is named an inn, the only place for travelers to sleep is a hard bench in a cell where you can peek through the bars towards the treasure room that surely holds whatever wealth you brought with you. Should you escape from the cell and are still looking for excitement, the top floor of the inn contains records of their pirate activities including many player run events.

One the western point of the town is a tall tower known as “The Block House”. Given the location, you might expect a grand lighthouse, but it seems the towns inhabitants do not wish to announce their presence. Instead you will find a fortified tower with cannons ready to defend the town.

On the eastern side of the inn you will find “The Black Market”. Because most a pirates time is spent sailing the high seas, The Black Market is only open on the first Saturday of each month. At the Market, Captains can sell their contraband and smuggled goods to any who are willing to risk venturing into the pirate town in search of a discount.

To the south of the Market is the “Old Admiral’s Retreat”. The Retreat appears to be a simple place of rest for a retired seaman. The views of the ocean to the south must make an old sailor feel right at home.

The eastern building is the “United Pirates Workshop”. Like the other buildings in town, there is plenty of storage for loot. This appears to be where anything that might have been broken during… acquisition… can be repaired before being sent to the market. I am sure many a pirate vessel has been outfitted here as well.

Lastly, along the southern shore, you will find the town dock from which the pirate fleet sets sail, and where their ill-gotten booty is unloaded. The skeletons of past opponents decorate the dock serving as a warning to any that might choose to cross the United Pirates.

So if you’ve ever been waylaid on the High Seas of Catskills, this just might be the place to visit to purchase your missing goods.

Inside sources informed me of an important meeting today, between Lady Mesanna and "Uriah the Crippled Producer of UO" and the members of the Council of Mages faction.

People gathered outside the Council of Mages base currently located on the now defunct island of Magincia in Felucca. Precisely at 1400 hours (2pm) the meeting got started. We were told that the Council of Mages base would be moved from Magincia to a new location because at some point Magincia will need to be rebuilt.

Aparently engineers have already been working on this issue, because we were asked if we would like to view the newly proposed area.

The group was taken to the island of Moonglow, on the southern coast where we were told the new Council of Mages base location is being considered.

When asked about dimensions of the new building, Mesanna replied, "It will be two stories tall, built over the water, and have a bridge with a small "choke point"". The construction is expected to take two to three weeks, and there will be oportunities to test the new base before the construction is finalized.

I sat next to Car'a'carn who had just arrived from the many GoF events going on during the day. He did well at the GoF trivia event walking away with 1.3 million. It is a busy weekend on Great Lakes and I would like to send out congraulations to GoF on their anniversary and thank them for all they do on our shard.

Hellga and Lady Martyna Z'muir were just getting into the swing of things on stage when a Schreckenghast Banshee swept into the theatre, howled then left. We all know what that means, BANNER ATTACK ! Oh yes, the local banner was attacked and everyone left the theatre to defend Yew. It was an ugly battle but all is safe now in the city.

Once all back in the theatre the riddles and silly halloween jokes continued. Most of the riddles/trivia were centered around famous witches. Even Lady Lava got one right..the answer was Sabrina.I must admit I was rather disappointed my favorite witch was not included in any of the trivia, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.

After everyone stuffed their faces with all the sweet treats handed out then the entries took to center stage. The costumes were, a witch, gazer, rabbit, spook, Joan of Arc, Dexter ( sans his roll of plastic ), orc/cow creature, villian, patch work skeleton, frog and a cake. Points were given for attitude and RP not just the costume alone.

This two hour long player run event was a lot of fun. The three top winner all walked away with gold and prizes. I am proud to report that Dyr Nox walked away with the winning title as a Patchwork Skeleton.

Sunday, October 24th at 12:00PM Noon PST (3:00PM EST) the nuns of the Order of Pragmatic Wisdom will meet at the order's Cloister to hold Sunday Service. Devotionals and a report on Feluccan missionary activities to be held. Nuns of all faiths from all over Baja are welcome, plus any interested in the Virtues are always welcome to attend.

Service will be held at the Cloister of the Order of Pragmatic Wisdom in the Town of Golden. Holy Wine provided.

Friday night, the sea salts of Baja gathered at the request of Jocasta, host of the First Baja Fishing Derby. Candidates had several days to fish up their biggest hauls on the open seas and bring them to the Sea Emporium for judging.

Congratulations to the winner, Samwise Gamgee, whose big fish came in at 192 stones!

Second place went to Tik Lebal with his whopping 180 stones

And third place? Also to Samwise Gamgee, at 175 stones!

Congratulations, fishers and special thanks to Jocasta for hosting the first Baja Fishing Derby!

As a side note, has anyone noticed a new pirate roaming the open seas?

We're still looking for some of the rarer fish. Have you seen them? What do they look like? Where did you catch them? If you can help us fill in the gaps please email to: [email protected], [email protected] or you can just send a pm to Petra Fyde.

A call to all anglers to grab their fishing poles and launch their boats this Sunday morning for the second event of the Fall Festival!What? "Morning", you say? Of course! If my childhood taught me one thing, it is that rolling out of bed far earlier than you intended is the only way to properly start a day of fishing.Registration is at the dock next to the "Oaken Oar" in Britain, Trammel. Registration opens at 9:45am with the tournament officially beginning at 10:15am, EST. You may register at any time after 9:45, but the tournament will end promptly at 11:15am. Any fish caught outside of this hour long window will not count.Captains, if you take a crew to sea, be sure to be armed as with all the activity on the water as of late there is a chance you might happen upon an unpleasant surprise or two – or it might happen upon you.Think you can land the biggest fish? Come prove it!

As I was visiting Britain during one of my business errands for the Magnate, I noticed a sheet of paper tacked to the gray stone wall of Castle British. Taking a moment to read it, I soon learned that young Lady Danica was putting out a call to arms to the people of Britannia. I remembered that it was her order that had been nearly extinguished during the battle just a few nights past. The notice was very rousing and I decided that I would make time to pay a visit to Jhelom that evening to learn more about this order of knights and perhaps also lend my assistance.

There was a nice crowd when I arrived, and it was very heartening to see that Valor still exists in the hearts of many of my fellow Britannians. We did not have to wait long, for Lady Danica Amandine arrived right on time with her fellow knight, Chusa Subel. She greeted us, thanking us for coming and confessing that she wasn't sure anyone would heed her call.

The Knights of the Crux Ansata had suffered a terrible blow during the battle some nights prior. Lady Danica had hinted at treachery from within, and now she told us that one of their own lay dying. Lord Simeon Bennu, her teacher and leader of the order, had been badly injured and it seemed as though he might not make it. If the order was to survive it would need new knights to carry on. That was where those of us gathered came in.

She had been pleasantly surprised to find so many willing to lend aid to their cause. We were asked to step outside and form ranks. As we stood before her, she took a roll call and gave a brief history of their order. They had started as warriors of Jhelom lending their arms for gold, and grown into a group of knights fighting for the good of Britannia. She told us that through dedication to the cause, we would not only advance in the ranks of knighthood, but also flourish.

As conscripts, our first task was to seek out a woman named Greta Hambone, whose grief had been caused by a creature that might offer a measure of hope in saving the life of poor Simeon Bennu, the legendary White Hind. Lady Danica cautioned us not to kill the beast, for it would damn us and possibly Lord Bennu, as well. We would need its blood to save him.

We found Greta in New Haven, at the inn where she had been staying. Her tale was one of woe. Her husband Gustav had gone seeking the beast, claiming it was their meal ticket, and had slain it. Now, she told us, he spent his time drunk, and that we might find him in a charity house in Minoc. Even as the quest seemed hopeless, after all the beast was dead and buried, we set out to Minoc, anyway.

We never found Gustav Hambone. We found what we assumed to be his remains. The journal we found in his cabin suggested that something was after him, and that it had finally come for him. The account revealed Gustav's own misgivings with his evil deed. He had buried the White Hind at Compassion shrine, but not before a terrible beast of greed and betrayal had been born of her. A Golden Hart, that he said always returned to the grave of its mother. We made haste to Compassion shrine, hope restored in our hearts.

We did not find the Golden Hart at the shrine, but we found a memorial stone. The memorial stone repeated the word “wrong” over and over. Feeling that it might be a clue where we could find the Golden Hart, many gates were opened to Wrong dungeon.

At the dungeon, we found another memorial stone. There was barely any time to read it, as we were soon under attack! Apparently, the Golden Hart had its own guardians, who made good their defense of him. Wave after wave of fire swept over us, but eventually the protectors of this foul beast were defeated and we were faced with the Golden Hart, itself.

Once he was put to rest, the White Hind appeared and spoke to us.

It told us that the beast's heart would cure Lord Simeon's illness. Lord d'Artagnan found it and we returned to Jhelom, where Lady Danica was waiting. Lord d'Artagnan displayed true Compassion and Sacrifice, giving the heart to cure Lord Bennu instead of keeping it or selling it for himself.

Lady Danica was proud of us all, calling us all heroes. She named six from the crowd of us that had stood out in particular in the quest to help Simeon. Duane, Link, Queen Ayra, Falcon, Ghost were named, and I was surprised when my name was honored along with them. She mentioned she would make special note of our contribution in her logs. She then congratulated everyone for our great teamwork and took the heart to help Lord Simeon.

As we filed through gates to Britain, we could only pray that we had saved Lord Bennu in time.

Vamp's Lair will once again be hosting Comedy Night at the Vampire Lounge nightclub on Friday Oct. 22nd at 8 PM EST. Vamp’s Lair is located at 32N, 2E on the Malas moon between Luna and Umbra at the old abandoned orc fort.

If you would like to join us for good drink and a barrel of laughs, please do so! ALL character types are welcomed --- RP or Non-RP.

If you think you are funny enough, dare you to take the stage for your 15 mins of fame under the spotlight and make the rest of us laugh!!! CoD will pick one lucky person that evening to reward 50,000 gold and be crowned as the night's "King or Queen of Comedy" for the best, funniest joke!

See you guys there!

Lady Pandora de RomanusCity Administrator for Vamp’s LairCoven Leader for the Children of Darkness

Readers may recall that Sister Moira, of the Cloister of the Order of Pragmatic Wisdom was recently reported missing in Felucca. It seems she has been spotted visiting several local cities looking for worthy causes.

Sister Agnes, also of the Cloister, confessed to having also made trips to Felucca and had earlier suggested that Moira deliver a bundle of donated clothing to Feluccan orphanages, which, word had spread, were overcrowded.

Moira had been last seen departing Agnes's company the other side of the Skara Brae moongate in Felucca with a bundle of clothing and the white slip of paper upon which she had written directions to the bank where she is to make a delivery for the orphanage.

On Friday, October 22nd, at an unannounced time sometime between 7:00PM PST and 8:30 PM PST, Sister Moira will spawn from a Feluccan moongate, on foot, headed toward a Feluccan bank.

At this stage in the current Live arc, it’s important we share some information about the future location of the Council of Mages.

Mesanna and Uriah will be on TC1 this weekend, Saturday October 23rd, at 1400 hours EST (that’s 2 in the afternoon on the East Coast).We will cover the relocation of the CoM factions base and the impact it will have on the current story arc. Also, we will field questions specifically on the live arc.

If you are unable to attend, please have a representative available in your place. We recommend attendance, thank you!

Lady Silverbrook, curator of the Magincia Library and Museum played host to a Halloween inspired costume and limerick contest this evening. There were several individuals who arrived to compete and show off their limerick writing talents, and the entire crowd was dressed up to partake in the night's theme. There was also a trivia contest offered to the crowd based on the theme of Halloween.

Most came prepared with a limerick, but there were several merely in attendance to listen. Some of the attendees included the Library of Sosaria librarian Martyna Z'Muir (dressed as a fan dancer), Kemmler (an ape), Aridas of the FCB (Wonder Woman), Basil, Galen of LotF, Chatheari (a cat), Lady Mai of GTO (a puppy), Beauvina (a cow), Tanda (a flame elemental), and a mysterious, masked red headed woman in a tribal mask. Assisting Lady Silverbrook in judging the entries was Justicar Ra'Dian Fl'Gith of the High Council of Britannia. They were dressed as a Pixie Queen and a Shadow Wyrm, respectively.

All waited their turn in the contest to be called upon to read their limerick. The final limerick of the night was read by the mysterious red head in the audience, which read:

A Good Day's Work by the Myserious Red Head

A warm day from ole Buc's we did sail,Spied a ship ful of bards who did wailWe thought they'd have loot,Not just old worn out flutesArrr! Though we did get their whiskey and ale!

After this limerick, she stated she wanted 'one more thing'. Jumping up to the top flight of the Library roof, the red headed masked woman grabbed a jade necklace that was part of the museum's collection. Pocketing it, she lept to the ground floor, running away. Some of those in the crowd hurried to catch her, but to no avail. Though she wore a mask, many stated they thought she might be Maggie the Red, a pirate of ill repute who has had run ins with the Royal Spies in the past. She also is noted to be the mother of Christine Keel, Commander of the Royal Britannian Guard.

After the theft, things settled down some for a ten question trivia session followed by the judging. All who entered a limerick were awarded a consolation prize in the form of gold. As far as the top three, Third place was taken by Lord Kemmler, Second Place by Chatheari, and First Place by Aridas. The following were the top two entries:

Diana Prince by Aridas

She fights injustice and those who plunder,Her lasso of truth will discover their blunderA raven haired Amazon with super speedShe nabs the crook who does the deedWhat a woman! What a Wonder!

The night ended with the promise of another literary event next month from Lady Silverbrook as well as a reminder of the Britannian High Council/ Yew-Wood Forest Theatre's Second Annual Halloween event that will be going on this Friday at 8pm under central skies.

Congratulations to this month's winners of the Magincia Library and Museum's literary contests, and please keep an eye out for further events sponsored by Magincia!!!

Would you like to be a part of something bigger than yourself? Can you foster loyalty and pride side by side with another who shares the same drive?

Jhelom has long been known to generate heroes of the fighting variety; the city is the very embodiment of the virtue of Valor. From this city came the loose association known as the Jhelom Fighter's Guild which guarded the city, trained warriors and went out into the realm selling their sword arms as mercenaries.

From this loose association of profit seeking mercenaries arose a group called the Knights of the Crux Ansata who wanted to be more. Not just mercenaries and Valorous Heroes, but examples of the perfection of spirit over temptation and vice, with the Virtues of Honesty, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, Spirituality, and Humility as their personal guide.

When the great volcano appeared on Fire Isle, and the Underworld opened itself to Britannia it was the Knights of the Crux Ansata who volunteered to first enter and explore, and perchance to live and flourish within the deeps known as the Stygian Abyss.

Within the Stygian Abyss the prejudices that commonly plague rough human warriors have broken down, tempered by both need and by virtue. The Knights have rejected all intolerant views of Elves, Gargoyles and any other sentient race that shows themselves to be more friend than foe. Gone are the resistances to magic and sorcery, in order to survive they have gathered closely any and all who seek themselves kind and generous knights of both sword and magic who are guides by The Virtues.

Within the Stygian Abyss the Knights have discovered many powerful artifacts and ancient devices buried deep within the passages between Britannia and Ter Mur. This has served to make them exceedingly powerful and rich not only in material wealth but in knowledge and in spirit.

Honesty, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, Spirituality, and Humility. It is by these virtues alone that we have survived and grown as an organization, and it is by these virtues alone they have toiled against the darkness.

Recently our Order was betrayed by a friend, they took many lives in order to silence the Knights of the Crux Ansata. But they could not destroy our root, our anchor to the world.

We believe what you believe, we know what you know, we love what you love. The Virtues of Britannia are not some simple creed or hokey religion. The Three Principles are how we live our lives, it is how we better our lands, they are what continues to abate the darkness that surrounds us.

Should you wish to inquire, our ranks are open for new recruits. Leave behind your titles and your lands, forget your wealth and your riches. For we are all the same, we are all equal, you enter the Order as such.

When / how did you first hear of UO and how long have you been playing this game?A friend of mine showed it to me shortly after release and I've been playing off and on since then. I tried alot of the other games for several yrs, the EQ's and such, but my home has always been Brittania.

Do you remember the very first time you died and if so by what creature or person ?Oh yes, I remember it well. It was before the Trammel/Felucca split and I was hunting great harts for hides. This red named BaNE comes riding up to me and I give the standard "Hail!". In return I get "DIE WORM!" and roasted with a flamestrike. Good times....good times.

What was the inspiration for the name Magnus?I was reading an Anne Rice novel when I created my first character Magnus. He is named after the rogue elder vampire that turns Lestat.

Magnus is a tamer. What are his skills and what is is favorite hunting location ?All the basic taming skills. Taming, Vet, Lore, Magery, Eval, etc. Magnus used to be a Legendary Archer and I'm in the process of building another archer w/ the skills I soulstoned. My favorite hunting location is easily the Daemon Temple on the Isle of Fire. For skills and karma gain it's hard to beat.

How are you liking the new booster High Seas and what do you think of Corgul?This is a booster that should have been released years ago. Before 'High Seas' I could probably count on one hand how many times I've been on a boat. I love it so far and can't wait for future sea based boosters. Corgul hates me and has made it known by not dropping me any new items the several times I've helped whip him.

I noticed your profile and you have two quotes in it. Do you change your profile often and what was the inspiration for these two quotes?The first is one of many variations of the original quote by Ghandi, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." The second is a John Belushi line from The Blues Brothers. I was meeting my wife and daughters at a pizza parlor sometime ago for dinner and asked loudly when I sat down "How much for the little girls?!" The disgusted look an elderly man shot me made my whole night lol. And no kidding, I would not be in the great guild I am today if it were not for my profile.

If you could change on thing about UO what would it be ?If I could change one thing about UO? Definately the distance my slow arse has to run to get to Navrey lol.

Name the one item/thing you treasure most in game.I have 3 AoS items that I've happened to find on vendors that have my children's names on them. I treasure those the most. And I have a rose that says "Dio roxxors Age of Shadows". I'm an old metal head so I love that one.

Name the one item/possession you treasure most in real life ?I have a 'Far Beyond Driven' CD by Pantera that was personally autographed by Dimebag Darrell. I had the honor of meeting him at a guitar shop in Portland, OR. He was a very friendly and giving guy.

What is the quality you most like in a woman ?Definately sense of humor. I love a woman who laughs at fart jokes. Impossible to have a bad date.

What is the quality you most like in a man ?Integrity.

What do you most value in your friends ?I have a very small circle of friends, but we've all been close since early grade school. No matter how long we go without seeing each other, we can walk into each others houses and know we are welcome and around people who genuinely care for us. I like that.

What was the last book you read ?The last book I read was 'The Warrior King' by Lt. Col. Nathan Sassaman. It's the true story of a noble commander who makes a heartfelt decision about his troops while trying to please his own commanders and deal with the very real dark side of war. As a former U.S. Marine and combat veteran, it was an emotional read but one I recommend to everyone.

What was the last movie you saw?One of my daughters is a big horror and graphic novel fan so we went and saw the new Resident Evil movie in 3D. Ahhh...father\daughter bonding time at it's best lol.

What is your motto?"If you think getting an education is hard, try being stupid." I love that one. I use it on my kids all the time.

Yesterday at our weekly Meet and Greet with our EM's where we discuss our past and future event we had a surprise visit from Lady Mesanna!

A few minutes before the Ems arrived there was a message to bring a pumpkin from last years Halloween. One that could been lit and preferable with Mesanna's name on.

All of rushed home to check out if we had any of those pumpkins. Then a message came trough from Lady Mesanna herself telling that any named pumpkin would do. I ran home to get my own pumpkin too.

When i arrived back at the counselors hall the EM's just arrived with Lady Mesanna. A big crowd of people lined up before Lady Mesanna.

Lady Mesanna touched our backpacks magically and changed the orange pumpkin in a creepy black one! Perfect for the next Halloween!

EM Ealia Tiefwasser got a new lantern from Lady Mesanna as well.

Now we are ready for the next Halloween!

I asked Lady Mesanna if she could help us with some extra Alchemist at the docks to buy saltpeter. Before she left she said she was going to look at the docks.

After long discussion with the EMs on whats next i got tired and needed sleep. But before i went back to my house i went to have a look at the docks. And as Lady Mesanna Promised to do the alchemists where there!

Thank you Lady Mesanna for the pumpkins and the alchemists. Now we don't need to fight to buy Saltpeter at the sea-market!

Location of Alchemists:

Two Alchemists at south docks of Jhelom main land. Two Alchemists at Skara Brae docks. Two Alchemists at Britain docks south of the West bank. Two Alchemists At Vesper docks. Two Alchemists at Trinsic docks. Two Alchemists at Moonglow docks. Two Alchemists at Papua docks. Four Alchemists at the Sea-market. All on Trammel Facet.

The Battle continued to rage as the Britannic and Town Guard forced their way into the Fortress of Truth.

"Get this man back on his feet," Jenkins snarled through the visor of his Plated Armet, the massive weight of his opponents arm slamming into the Captains shield. He grunted as the steel buckled under the blow, his arm going numb.

Gilthas leapt over the corpse of a Bane Knight, blade slicing into the throat of another. "Captain," he shouted, his free hand grasping the shoulder of a fallen Guardsman, dragging him back against the wall. "One of the Golems has trapped people in the Library."

The Captain began to respond, but was cut short.

"The Queen! The Queen!"

Jenkins dropped to a knee as the Golems arm whistled over head, slamming into the wall. Mortar and stone exploded in a shower of debris, pelting the Captain. Not hesitating he leapt forward, twisting, and drove his shield into the monsters throat, beheading it.

Dawn caught the swing of a Bane Knights axe with her Sword, Justice, and twisted, slamming her elbow into the mans nose. "Who delivered the Order to march on Yew?"

"Sherry did, m'lady."

* * *

The Bane Chosen began their retreat, disappearing into the surrounding wilderness, leaving the Britannic Guard worn and bewildered.

"I came as fast as I could from the Countryside," the Queen breathed as she entered the cramped chamber. She was covered in dirt and blood, much of it her own, damp tresses having been brushed back with her fingers. Jenkins was close on her heels, left arm hanging limp at his side. If it pained him, he showed no sign. Glinmiali and Gilthas entered behind them.

Yalp offered a polite bow. "Your Majesty," he murmured, presenting the note. Nicholas remained in the corner, wrapped in shadow, wolven eyes on the Britannnian monarch.

On Thursday the 21st anyone who is interested in doing Fel Champion Spawns should meet at Luna Bank, from there gates will be provided to the first champion spawn. Depending on how long it takes and how much interest there is, we will continue to do spawns right up until 8:30.

This will be a Rp-pvp event, but dont worry, none of you attackers or defenders will have to rp at all. What I mean by this is I'm going to provide some background about the "caravan" so that people understand why they will act the way they do.

The caravan will consist of 3 to 4 people. The "boss" will be equipped in a full resist suit and be worth 10 points to the attacking team, the "body guard" will be equipped in a GM made suit and be worth 6 points to the attacking team, the "assassin" will be worth 3 points to the attacking team and be naked. The possibly extra person will be dressed as an extra assassin (but is not a confirmed player at the moment)

The boss needs to make it from Fel Minoc gate all the way to the cross roads in order to "talk" with the healer grandmaster there. However being deathly afraid of riding animals, he is forced to walk, as are his guards. Knowing that he is a target for unsavory types he has decided to hire mercenaries to defend him. His body guard has orders to stay close to him at all times, while his assassin(s) have orders to stay within eye sight but be invisible.

The rules:

The caravan must stay on the road

The caravan will stop moving if the escorts leave the screen

The defenders and attackers can rez each other and continue on

Once the group reaches the cross roads that round is over and the roles switch

If the mage dies, the round is over and the roles switch

The caravan will attack and defend itself in addition to the current defenders

Teams of 3-5 people for attacker/defender roles If more than 2 teams sign up we will run this event tournament style The winning team splits 3million gold, in the event of a tie, it will be split between both teams.

Want to go hunting but don't have a big enough group? Are you looking for good guides to dungeons you've yet to explore?

The community hunts are open to everyone! Come show your support for the Lake Superior community and take a walk on the wild side at the same time. Meet some new and old friends and have a bit of a challenge along the way.Lava Caldera mini-champ hunt (Stygian Abyss)Date: Tuesday, October 19thTime: 8:00PM CST Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bank Host: Taeara Mi'Aken

Community Peerless Hunt Date: Wednesday, October 20thTime: 8:00PM CST Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bankHost: Taeara Mi'Aken

The last Battle Chicken Tournament saw the upset of a SIX (6) time Battle Chicken Champion, then the upset of the upsetter! In a best of three in the finals. Betting, joking, and teasing all made the night especially entertaining.

With ever increasing participation this next tournament promises to be equally as entertaining if not more! The current champion Tyrant, and his battle chicken "Special" will be waiting for you.

If for no other reason than to watch Special repeatedly disobey Tyrant, you should make time to come and watch or participate in this tournament. I hope to see everyone there!

Kate announcing the event Kate the Event Announcer just started yelling about this scheduled meeting, with such an advance notice one can only guess at what topics shall be covered. I for one know I will be there, and I hope to see a large turn out from the Legends community.

While investigating reports of murdered gypsies near Covetous in the old world, Captain Jenkins stumbled into what appears to be an unauthorized shipment of Blackrock. Unfortunately, the mercenary in charge of the convoy managed to flee. However, an orcish prisoner named Urpurk was freed by the good captain. Over 300 stones of blackrock material was discovered between the packies.

For now, Urpurk has been provided shelter in the town guard garrison in Britain. While his grasp of the King’s tongue is crude at best, attempts are underway to find out everything he may know about this. As you might realize, smuggling of Blackrock is considered a serious offense. Ever since the appearance of the blackrock golems, there has been a system in place to monitor all blackrock related activity in the kingdom.

Anyone with experience of communicating with the orcs is requested to speak with Urpurk to figure out more about him and the source of the blackrock.

Summary: Lord Captain Jenkins of the Royal Guard summons a militia of Britannic and Old World Volunteers, forming an expeditionary force to scout the edges of the Isle of Magincia. But their plans are cut short when Sherry arrives, announcing the Bane Chosen assault on Northern Yew.

When the militia arrives they discover Ricardo, War Criminal from the First Ophidian War, has been captured.

Nicholas and Yalp discover plans revealing a man named 'V' is behind the plot. Others find similar notes on the corpses of the Bane Chosen and their demonic reinforcements.

The Queen arrives from the Countryside, seemingly unaware of the Invasion of Magincia.

He watched them, a silent spectre wrapped in the accutrements of death and discord.

"Remember," Lord Captain Jenkins shouted from atop the stair leading into the Interior Palace, "we do not aim to defeat them today." Indignant murmurs rose through the mass of armed peasants and guardsmen.

One ascended the lowest step. Darius' eyes threatened to bore holes into the Commander of Queen Dawn's Palace Guards. "If the Temple of Magincia has fallen, I swear..."

"Well, well, well," came a voice from the shadows. "You can hardly blame the Guardsman for the actions of the Bane Chosen."

Jenkins turned. "Nicholas," he said, pounding a gloved gauntlet against his opposing shoulder.

"Captain," Nicholas emerged to stand in the light, exchanging glances with Glinmiali Zanthes.

Jenkins turned to again face the crowd. "Are the Banes massing in any particular Region of Magincia?"

James cleared his throat, though the answer obvious. "Where the City once stood."

"Everywhere," Nephthys breathed.

Gilthas emerged from the throng. "When I was there, Captain," he began in the thick accent of his people, "I saw tents. Perhaps there will be something inside. Orders. Their plans."

Jenkins opened his mouth to respond, but was cut short by a squeal, that of a wounded animal, and fierce scratching at his boot. "Sherry!"

The strange mating of Mouse and Man fought to catch her breath. "Oh, how horrible! It's a disaster!"

"I was at the Prison," she breathed, wiping her nose with an all too human paw. "Visitin' Ricardo! We were attacked!" She tugged on his boot. "You must come, fast! It's horrible."

* * *

The Knights of Bane and the Britannic Guard fought mercilessly 'neath a sun that refused to set. Garish light bloodied their sword blades and gilt their breastplates with liquid fire. The sound of mortars and explosions erupted in the distance, mingled with the fierce howls of Britannian War Wolves.

Nicholas eased Sleipnir into a slow canter, fresh blood dripping from the tip of his undulating Flamberge and staining his sleeve. He had managed to take the mans hand, then his head, but only in poetry did a man face a band of hardened warriors and survive without wearing evidence of the struggle. Tarrant was tapestried in proof of such duels.

He leaned forward as he passed beneath the Gate and into the Castle of Truth.

When he emerged on the other side, he paused, drawing rein. There, guarding the entrance to the fortress and adjacent prison was a man, garbed in the accutrements of the Chosen. His armor was a mass of dangerous lines and sharpened edges. He was mounted atop a Bane Dragon, venom dripping from the maw of that fat, bloated creature. "Caught," Nicholas murmured, grip tightening on the Serpent embossed hilt, anticipating a charge.

Nicholas' eyes narrowed. He recognized the man, though [i]man[/i] was a stretch. "It has been some time," he replied. Dexter was young, not more than a year or two older than his own son. Yet the man standing before him was an efficient killer, a swordsman of rare talent that laughed when he shed blood. Nicholas had saved the boy from the Ophidians a dozen times earlier that Summer, in the employ of the Chosen, and Dexter had returned the favor in kind. Nicholas swung his leg over Sleipnir's Saddle, dismounting.

"We've captured the Thief, Sir," Dexter announced. Was he truly that naive? "Come to help us retake Britannia from these Heathens and Blasphemers?"

Nicholas ignored the gesture, and passed him. "Are you prepared to give your life for the Cause?"

Dexter replied, though instinct guided his words. "Yes," he began, turning. "I..." His words were cut short, as the Flamberge drove into his stomach.

Nicholas studied the face of a man he had saved numerous times, a comrade, as Dexter descended to his knees, holding the blade to his stomach.

He looked up. "W...why?"

"Be Brave," Nicholas tore the weapon free. "I will not be far behind."

He swung, ending the young mans suffering.

* * *

Yalp led his War Wolf through the shadowed corridors of the Castle of Truth, delicate fingers wound tight around the winged hilt of his Planesword. The mithril weapon, carved with Enochian runes and long wielded in service to the Empress of Zento, glowed with a faint, spectral hue, though releasing captured blades of silver moonlight imbued in to the hilt. It helped him find his way around the corpses of Bane Chosen and Yew Wardens.

Someone had come before him.

He paused. The Wolf - a Cu Sidhe of the Dark Moon - began to snarl, her hackles rising on end, twisting her head to peer behind them.

"Saesi... Air byrol sai thaes," Yalp murmured soothingly in the tongue of his people. "What is it, Girl?"

Then he heard it, a loud, inhuman groan as the beams of the ceiling began to splinter and give way.

"Vaeraer," he snarled. "Back." He and the Wolf just managed to clear the hall when the beams exploded, the ceiling collapsing under the weight of two massive creatures. Blackrock Golems. There was no going back now.

The Managarm descended further into the Castle, fingers wound tight in the mane of the Wolf, using its senses to guide him deeper into the shadowy oblivion of Yew Prison. He was separated from the Britannic and Town Guard, but there was a chance the Thief was still alive, and if he could only find his way, hope remained.

Moments passed. He descended into the Dungeon, the sound of moans and pleas for help echoing through the dimly lit corridor of Cells. The Prisoners, he observed in the torchlight, had been dragged from their cells and silenced by whatever evil had assaulted this place. Some had been beheaded. Some, stabbed. One, his tongue cut out. There was nothing he could do for these people, he thought, knowing he would have to save his energy for the fight ahead.

Yalp found the Cell. XIII.

He gripped his weapon, and threw the door wide. Movement. Instinct took over. He swung. Two blades slammed together in the shadow, sparks flying.

"Nicholas," he breathed in recognition.

Nicholas lowered his Sword. "You just missed him."

"Where is Ricardo?"

Nicholas gestured to a piece of rolled parchment on the bed. "Have a look for yourself."

"Tonights original plans to head to Magincia were altered when Sherry the Mouse reported of an attack in Yew Prison. The shard rallied, it was expected no less of Baja, and beat them back to a few stragglers. A small band of Cu's and Tamers stayed on, resources depleted, strength sapped and in dire need of reinforcements. At the moment when all seemed lost.. the Queen's Cu Squad arrived to take down the last of the Yew invaders! It was a sight. Cu's gnawing and tearing at the vile beast. Many going down for what seemed like the last breath, when they were revived by the dutiful Tamers and Healers.

The Squad awaits an official designation from Queen Dawn, and a special Honorarium for the Lone Bane. But as can be seen from the picture, they stand ready to defend should the Queen but whistle... and supply a box of Scooby Snacks."

The call had been made, assembly at the Counselor's Hall in Trammel Britain was the status quo for residents of the realm. Approaching the Hall was an act of Valor in and of itself. Wyrm coiled about the street lamps, Dragons snapped and hissed, their scale covered necks towering high above the thatch of the hall, and a cabal of black steeds sat patiently next to the door. Within the hall was all manner of adventurer. Warriors sliding wet stones across their blades, rogues glancing about for loosely secured items and from seemingly no where, one of the Priests of Britannia, Moderators of these sort of injunctions.

"There is a man running through the woods to Skara Brae, you should intercept him."

A response was muttered low from somewhere int he gathering "I got a bad feeling about this drop."

Enter, Chusa. After a short exchange of words and magical conjuration gates were raised, and promptly entered, leading to another nexus and then, combat.

The Beachhead was secure for roughly ten paces, a quick glance about revealed the location. Fire Island, Trammel, the recent volcanic and seismic activity had been a hot spot for strange happenings, and with the mouth of the Underworld only a short distance away it wasn't surprising the The Crux Ansata was nearby.

What was surprising, however, was the sheer volume of hostile entities. Ravenous Hell Hounds quickly caught the scent of the force pouring from the gate and alerted the surrounding defenders. The area exploded into a cacophony of words of power. Yelps signaled the start of the conflict, dragon's bellowed as the hounds were put down, darkly garbed mages moved forward from the mountain pass and from about their feet terrible vortex of stinging sand materialized.

Evil Mage's robes became little more than tattered thread as the force pushed forward, Chusa at the head, until an ornately dressed mage stepped forward from the wall, talking large portions of the wall with it. Elementals of the finest ores and minerals shambled towards the comrades of the Knights.

Powerful chants rose from behind the pass and the numbers of the defenders swelled. Humanoid figures composed of mist appeared and bolstered the swell of magically composed creatures. Britannia began to lose momentum.

Finally pushing through the choke point the force spotted two knights fighting alone amidst a sea of corpses, some garbed as paladin and some clearly inhuman. A moment was spared and all seemed to give pause, the real battle had just begun.

Enter, Lord Siemon Bennu, Danica Amandine, and several well dressed corpses. Britannia made a slow crawl towards them, keeping formation while the two Knights fought bravely. For two knights with only a pair of Order shields, a pole axe and a viking sword, the show of Valor displayed by the two shall never be questioned. It was just about that time a very blue figure lept directly into the middle of the brawl, arising slowly the archmage's hair began to tussle and slither. With snakes for hair the figure uttered only a single phrase. "Bring me their heads."

Enter, Roshameric The Black, and after a snap of his fingers, his delightfully numerous Balron assistants.

Meanwhile! Back at the beachhead,

Well then, back to the main battle?

As the force finally cornered Roshameric, having cut off most of his snake-hair, warriors piled atop him and found themselves being spontaneously duplicated along with the tamer's animal companions. While the warriors were busy fighting their alter-egos Roshameric summoned some sort of larger enslaved infernal being.

Exit Roshameric, Enter Jumuresh the Bound, some manner of demon sultan, but most certainly evil. After a very long and tiresome battle he was slain.

The residents of the clearing looked on in horror as, from each slain foe, oozed a peculiar substances, free from the bounds of gravity and listlessly compacting into a massive entity that struck out with a terrible force, with out a bellow or any words, it simply began to take lives.

And so the Knights of the Krux Ansata descended on this new beast with the vigor of their third wind.

Then it killed. EVERYONE.Three times.

The day was finally won, after the third strike the forces of good composed themselves and struck down the beast. Mortally wounded, scarred, charred, and exhausted Chusa had the two knights escorted back to Skara Brae's inn. A tearful Danica made the realization that only three Knights of the Ankh remained. Danica, mournful and tired. Chusa, his armor dented and his sword thoroughly dulled. Siemon, half dead and bleeding, run through the middle and down the leg. The three retired to the inn and the collective assembly returned to their homes and loved ones, awaiting news of these new heros. Some took with them the bloodied tunics of the fallen Knights, all present took home the honor of marching with Britania's newest heroes. Keep a sharp eye for the continuing adventures of The Knights of the Krux Ansata!

Yes, folks, you heard right, our own Rabid Chipmunk has joined the staff of reporters for Stratics and will be covering Legends shard!

oh wait.... that's my job...... oh no, you don't get rid of me that easily! The mad munk and I will be working together to bring you all the news that's fit to print and probably some that isn't quite fit.

Lady Illania and Anduril have spent months preparing for their wedding. Both are members of one of the largests guilds in all of UO, the -Y- Guild on Great Lakes. Many of their guild members and friends helped in getting this event off the ground and the topping on the cake was having EM Elizabella marry them.

It was a grand affair and I arrived early to take a few photographs. Sioux-Q ( barefoot, which was rather shocking and inappropriate ) and Tiberus were already at the lovely ceremony location. Tiberus handed me a bag with the full menu of events to take place which were many.

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The location with autumn cherry blosson trees ( most rare as this is a spring flowering tree )is a favorite spot for weddings. I have attended two weddings in the past at this very location and all were lovely. Lord Bob started gating the guests in, even the late arrivals, and he did a great job. Below are a few guests showing off their wedding finery.

The groomsmen Lindrowsky and Lord Justice looked so handsome for the joyous day. Theoros crafted their outfits for the day.

It was when the bridemaids started down the aisle that the show really began. Lady Bad Magic was first and her flaxen glowing hair could be seen from miles away. She was followed by Severn, Crypt Angel and the always tempting Lady Temptress. They looked stunning however where was no label on thier outfits. Someone claimed that Severn crafted thier clothes but I not positive on this matter.

As always knowone shined like the bride. Below are a few shots of the ceremony.

It was then onto the reception which was held at The Wolf's Den Tavern and Inn. Edward Striker ( no relation to the adult film star Jeff Striker I am told ) was the bartender keeping things flowing and the party hardy.

The first of many events was a drunk naked archery contest. At my age there is no way I am getting naked infront of a crowd much less with bow and arrow in hand. I was more excited about the mound of wedding cake.

Real life called as it often does and I did not partake in the remainder of wedding events. On my way out I ran into Lady Silberbrook admiring the banner outside the Tavern. It was the first time for both of us viewing this creative and tasteful banner.

Thursday evening 10-14 at MOA was the location for Lord Colt and many others to celebrate Emerald Ice's birthday.

Siouxz-q and Lord Tye Weatherlight sat on either side of me with good friend Gaia infront. Considering so many people are on the high seas these days there was a great turn out for this surprise birthday party including, Frank Zappa, Evista, Traveler, Angel Flame, Duels, Artimus Pyldrivr, Lord Moose, Killah Priest, Charlotte Rose, Lady Silverbrook, Hannah, Baljos, Legend, Zandor, Aridas, Dell Magic, Scarlet Witch, Lord Thorreain, Ricky, Monster Joe, Lady Mai, Lawlserz, DollMaster, Marduk, Lady Jasmin, Dingleberry, Mr Mojo and Lady of the Mist...to name a few.

Many people donated items for this event, including gold and cakes baked by members of the Great Lakes RolePlay Community. These cakes were included with other items in gift bags that were handed out to the patrons. A very nice reminder of this special date.

Emerald Ice has seen many things in her eight long years working at MOA but nothing like the Fanatical Collector of Souls that attacked the MOA banner during the auction/party. The battle of the banners began and many patrons fled the auction house to defend from this new evil in our lands. This did not phase Pratt one bit and he continued to give away gold and bring items up on the auction block, being the old pro that he is.

Below are a few shots of the banner attack at MOA.

In closing I would like to say I hope Emerald Ice had a very nice birthday and many more to come!

Congratulations to Sundina and Demon Slayer, of Moria Village and Shelra and Lycanthropy of Zedland City, for obtaining the first Orc boat on the Chesapeake shard!!! These busy sailors couldn't stay in port for long, must be to many pirates to capture!!! Lucky for us they had enough time to stick around for a picture and question. When asked what its like to obtain such a deadly vessel Sundina simply stated,"Its Fun!"

So get on our there Chesapeake!!! Get yourself one of those wonderful and deadly Orc vessels!!!!

The publish information showed us that there were a lot of fish we hadn't seen yet, if you can help us fill in the gaps please email to: [email protected], [email protected] or you can just send a pm to Petra Fyde.

Everyone loves to tell stories of the good old days even when those stories involve "being mugged in-game!" Over the next couple of days, we’ll bring you some of those stories from ex-UO players and developers who are still active in the industry. We would like to thank Jeremy for sharing her "Reminiscing with Old Friends".

I love the Austin game developers conference, no matter what it’s called. Seeing all of my friends, ex-coworkers, and colleagues, swapping war stories, and making new contacts is something I look forward to all year. This year it was even better – I had a perfect excuse to rustle up all of the folks who used to play or work on UO and get them to talk about the Good Old Days. There were a lot of them.

My first interviewee was Troy Hewitt, currently the Community Lead at Carbine Studios. Troy had plenty to say about UO. He was a player on Atlantic named Aleph Aeirs, who started a roleplaying guild and eventually had every roleplayer’s dream come true – Origin contacted him and invited him to become a seer. “I remember feeling like I won UO,” he says. He was Seer Asher on Chesapeake, wrote for Stratics, and still keeps his account open and maintains the friendships that started in UO.

“How did UO affect your career and/or personal life?” I asked. “Well, it introduced the concept of online obligation,” he begins, a fascinating tangent that I need to remember to pursue with him some day. He goes on to say that he saw the kind of writing and events he was doing for games and decided to work in the industry. He went on to be a community manager on The Matrix Online, then Community Envoy (and envy of the CM field for his awesome title) and later Director of Community for Flying Labs, and now working on Carbine’s super-secret project.

“What’s your favorite UO story or memory?” I ask. “It’s so dorky…” he trails off. “Well, there was that time my player character got kidnapped by a Seer. But my real favorite… it’s so dorky.” He goes on to recount the huge, elaborate wedding of one of his characters to one of his real-life friend’s. It wasn’t a real-life romance, just something they did for roleplaying purposes, but it remains one of his favorite memories. He goes on to say that the early days of UO were a time when talented people would do things for free – now everyone’s looking to make money off of what they do in MMOs, but in those days it was just for love.

The next person I ambushed was Will Leverett - GM Ironwill, from the very early days of UO. He answered an ad in the paper and got hired on in October of ’97 as a GM. They told him he would be “running events 50% of the time, testing 25% of the time, answering emails 25% of the time.” It didn’t quite work out as planned. He ended up the account administration lead – “I was in charge of banning all the players!” He pauses. “Well, hopefully not all of them.”

“Death threats and the bomb threat aside,” Will says UO taught him about business, management, what to do and what not to do online. “Wouldn’t be where I am today without UO,” he says. It turned into a successful career overseeing customer service, community management, and quality assurance all supporting online games. I met him when he was the NCSoft game support manager – he went on to be the director of CS for Real Time Worlds.

I asked him for his favorite story – “Something printable,” I clarify. That’s always harder for GMs. “Well, there was the time I deleted everything on Sonoma.” I can’t very well repeat the command that he accidentally used to nuke the shard, but suffice it to say that Armageddon spell from the single player Ultimas? The one that destroys the world? Well, it works fine in UO as well, if you’re a fat-fingered GM.

The other story also sounded just like the good old days. Some folks asked him to conduct their wedding, and he agreed. 200+ people showed up in Lord Blackthorn’s chapel – it was terribly laggy. Then a naked guy – here’s where all the old-schoolers wince – runs in carrying nothing but an Earthquake scroll. He triggers it – this was during a period when Earthquake was ridiculously overpowered - and kills everyone.

The last fellow from today’s batch was John Erskine – GM Rock. He was a beta player who became a GM at launch, and managed the GM team for 2 years.

Like most of the folks I talked to, MMOs became his career. Before working at Origin, John was the general manager of a chain of retail stores. When Origin hired him, they had no real concept of GMs or community managers. The idea was that they’d be more like a dungeon master, running events. EA’s initial sales projections were for 100k boxes total – lifetime, that is – and the game would last 6-9 months. When the game launched, there was no way to contact support in-game. As soon as they added that ability, the queue was in the thousands. That didn’t leave the GMs much time for creating events.

John’s favorite story is a classic as well. A blacksmith named John Henry figured out that every time you crafted an exceptional item, it added +1 damage to the blacksmith hammer. He’d build up a stock of +50 hammers with one durability point apiece and run around dungeons one-shotting people and yelling “I’m a steel-drivin’ man!”

Chesapeake is a buzz this week as players new and old set out to the high seas for adventure. The new additions to the realm were met with favorable reguards as all manners of upgrade were tested in the past days. Included in the many additions is the new "Zento Docks" received by all shards with the new booster:

Citizens of Zento Rejoice!!! After years of not having a dock, one has finally been built for the people!!! This is a wonderful addition to the city and local establishments like the Zento Station, run by Greyylene of the USN.

After doing my homework, I learned the design came from EM Helios and the players of the Legends shard. Thank you, Legends for this great design as well as the diabolically evil one Mesanna for building the dock, and the UO Team for implementing it game wide!

Some of the first events utilizing the new additions also took place this week as Santiago hosted the "Sons of the Sea" specimen collection:

These fine fishermen sailed the High Seas, catching new fish for Santiago to put on display. Lady CaT stayed behind assisting Santiago with organizing, cataloging, and displaying each new fish brought in.

Four of the newest "BEEEEG FEEESH!" as Santiago likes to call them, are in the display case on the West wall. There is also a Aqua plaque on the North wall, naming the Specimen Hall Curator.

Thank you Santiago and Lady Cat for staying up and working on these wonderful displays, and thank you to all of the fishermen listed above, for your hard work in catching these fish. There are still many new fish out there to be caught, so be sure to check out the entire fish list.

Another great event was the Grand Net Toss hosted in Bucs Den Trammel by Stoned Mariner and the city of Merxmere! Over 250 regular nets along with 10 ancient nets were tossed as the realm got its first glimpse of Osiredon the Scalis Enforcer. One was even lucky enough to recieve the new Coral Bracelet!

Along the shores of the Kijustsu Anei Keys, round two of the United Sosarian Alliance Dart League was held on Mondays eve. Shooters from near and far ventured to the coastal dock for the weekly dart league. The nights host the Savage Niva did a great job keeping score and the orc in check as she ran the night's fun. In first place this week was Wat the Tyler (RBG), Second place went out to Delta Butch (RBG), Third to Sherlock Hemlock (RBG) and rounding out the top five were Manshoon (ELV) in fourth, and Larry Fine (RBG) in fifth! The nights high three shot total was 80! Shot by none other than Manshoon taking home the million gold bonus! Congratulations to our weeks champion and all those competed.

"Just before the death of flowers, And before they are buried in snow, There comes a festival season When nature is all aglow."- Author Unknown

Fall Festival

Date: October 24th 2010

Time: 4:00 PM PST / 7:00 PM EST.

Location: Skara Brae Faire Grounds in Trammel.

It's time once again for a Fall Festival! A time of fellowship, games and good fun!

Please sign up to reserve a stall by replying to this post. Send your characters name and the time you would like reserved. You may reserve one stall at this time, but may request two time slots. If there is space at the end, your request for additional stall time will be accepted as received.

As always, the stalls may be used for many activities, selling your wares, guild recruitments, just for fun. Stall duration is 40 minutes.

2. Short Story Recital. You are invited to recite a short story, the spookier the better. The recital should not last more than ten minutes. There are only 5 slots available for this, so please register ahead of time by commenting here.

Please, the stories should conform to the rules of the game. Keep it clean!

Some planned games are:

3. Pumpkin Soccer. Teams pit against each other to get the Pumpkin across the finish line first.

4. Shoot the Apple. EMCrysania will be a brave soul and *place* an apple on top of her head, standing in front of the archery butte. You get three shots to *hit* the apple!

Abram was startled from his sleep as the words appeared in his mind. The old sailor, shielding the gaze of his one eye as he fixed it upon his younger shipmate, struggled a moment to realize what was said.

"A mast?" Adrenaline now coursed through Abram's veins. The two seaborne scavengers had left port in Nujel'm almost a week ago. Adrift in the Britannian sea onboard an unsuitable scow, the thought of ending this job was almost too much for him. They had managed to deal for the last known location of a derelict, the Cirein, the lone survivor of which having died just days before. Under Britannian maritime law, this makes the cargo of the lost ship very valuable to the first crew that claims her.

There weren't many ships in these waters this time of year. The exceptions being the occasional crew, like that of the Cirein, making a trade run through Vesper. The Cirein was a large fishing vessel Abram was quite familiar with. It was well reputed for its large catches. No doubt they were able to barter a great wealth of cargo from their time in Vesper. Just two days after leaving port one of the Cirein's crew washed ashore, a short time from death by the time he was found.

Yero punctuated the silence as he mumbled a bit of poem, "From the greatest depths arose a beast, set mightily against old - "

"Of course I'd heard it! You always be singin' the same tune, poxy bugger!" For a moment Abram had forgotten what was at hand. Nevertheless, their course was already set for the silhouette in the distance and it would be a while before they traversed the distance. The skies were growing dark and the winds were chill, but their scow kept on, crashing through the waves toward riches.

"Aye," Yero offered no argument, "that lad from the Cirein got me thinkin' about it. Mumbling on like that about an enforcer."

Abram seemed to consider this for a moment. "What's a song got to do with that?"

"No song. It be a bit piece from an epic of the seas." Yero shifted uncomfortably. He had essentially just admitted to his salvage partner that he read poetry.

"Alright, what's it on about?" Abram had time to spare, anyway, and he sure wasn't going to enjoy it in this weather.

"It be tellin' a tale of a sea beastie terrorizing the kingdoms of the ol' world."

"After a great battle off the coast of Fawn," Yero continued, "a king and his two youngin's commanded it return to the depths and not be seen again."

"And it just went?" Abram laughed, again picking at the young man's story.

Yero nodded, "Aye. But not before a warning." Yero cleared his throat and attempted a more theatrical voice as he recited from the story, " 'I am the Enforcer of the sea, you pillage a domain my own, to protect with all my might, your people will see me again, when sea creatures meet their plight.' "

Yero sighed, "It be an old story, Abram. I find meself surprised you ain't heard it before. Not many a tale exist from the days before British. But this one here," Yero paused a moment to gauge the distance toward the other ship, "most a sailor be rememberin' it, that's for right."

"Aye, but it's just a child's story, Yero!" Though Abram didn't show it, the story did make him feel a bit uneasy. An ancient being from the days of Akalabeth and before, returning to exact vengeance. Such a creature would surely be the bane of any mariner.

Abram pushed these thoughts behind him, and instead concentrated on what was now just a short distance off their bow. Approaching the ship, he could see she was bare mast and adrift. It certainty appeared to be a derelict of some regard, anyway, and Abram will be pleased with whatever they find. They had squandered the last of their gold in the City of Pleasure, and were desperate to have something they could barter with.

"Look at that!" Yero nearly shouted his surprise.

Abram looked in the direction Yero's finger pointed, and was taken aback. The ship's mizzen-mast had been entirely snapped in two. The main-mast still stood, but most of its rigging had been torn from the spar. The hull of the ship was riddled with large holes far too large for any cannonball to make. As they approached, various debris bounced off their hull. Flotsam, mostly, but the occasional arrow shaft floating by caused Abram's heart to sink. If they had done battle with pirates, no doubt the cargo had already been picked.

"Abram, toss me the gaff." Yero, now leaning off the starboard bow, called back.

Pirates couldn't have done this, Abram thought as they rounded the ship.

As if reading Abram's mind, Yero stood up and shouted back, "Pirates didn't do this!"

To emphasize his point Yero held up a small chunk of strikingly white flesh. There was no question in their minds, than, the ship had done battle with Leviathan. Traders and fishermen were most often ill-equipped to deal with the creature, and rarely survived its attacks. The thought of the most feared creature of the sea having been here, even if days before, filled both men with terror.

Abram did not respond, but nor did he disagree with his young crewmate. He continued maneuvering their boat, bringing them across the ship's stern and to the port side. Yero suddenly let out a gasp and nearly fell back. As Abram's line of sight cleared the derelict, he too felt his heart go into a panic. The sight before them was gruesome enough to paralyze the men in fear.

A large bloodied mass floated just port of the ship. What was left of it resembled Leviathan, but the way in which its body was shredded was incomprehensible to Abram. Only the center mass of the great beast remained, the rest having been torn off and discarded in a wide radius around them.

Everything grew quiet, save the short panicked breaths of the two scavengers. A light tapping sounded at the stern of their vessel, under Abram, and slowly increased in cadence as it approached the bow. Just as suddenly as it began, the tapping stopped. It was Yero who finally found his voice.

Abram watched in horror as eels seemed to launch out of the water and land upon the young man. Yero let out a series of blood curdling screeches as the foul little serpents latched into every bit of his body they could find hold. Abram rushed to his aid, but to no avail. His partner was taken down to the deck, and soon overcome.

The older scavenger, alone now, rushed back to stern and retrieved his small crossbow. It'd do little good against the tangle of eel, but it was all he had. The scow suddenly rocked hard, nearly knocking Abram's footing out from under him. Recovering, he looked up and a beheld a beast of unimaginable ferocity. Large, almost humanoid in appearance, but big enough to make any being feel like a mere ant in its presence. Tentacles as large as Abram covered its mouth. Parts of its body were covered in an armor plate of barnacles. Where the beast's right hand would have been, a large crushing pincer took its place.

"Of height to the heavens and power replete." Abram whispered in awe. Though his pride never would have allowed him to admit it, he knew the epic Yero spoke of. He knew it well, as every sailor did. Abram finally found the will to move. He aimed his small crossbow at the beasts heart and fired. If it ever reached his target he wouldn't know, he quickly lost sight of the bolt against the broad backdrop of the beast's torso.

Nonetheless, the creature reacted. Reaching down it plucked Abram off his boat with its large claw and held him in front of his eyes. Abram was helpless in the massive being's grasp, as he and it stared at each other for what seemed to Abram an eternity.

Held firm, unable to help to resist the giant's grasp, he whispered one last line of the poem, "Seized upon those whom take from the sea."

Mesanna made an appearance yesterday at the Counselor's Guild in Brit and she was looking rather dark and spooky.

Not only was she dressed for the season she was there to dye pumpkins from last year a two toned neon black for those that brought along a pumpkin and many a citizen was there with pumpkin in hand. Not only did the pumpkins take on a new transformation they also were tagged with Mesanna's name. Thank you Mesanna for taking the time to visit Great Lakes.

On the subject of Halloween, many a plot over the past two weeks has been festooned with seasonal trim. Below are a few of the ones I have visited.

MOA Auction House

One of the black Mesanna pumpkins is showcased in center

One of several -Y- Guild Meeting Places

It is no secret that Lady Lava loves all things creepy and spooky in game. I could not do a halloween post without showing my private dungeon in my home. Every girl needs a dungeon !

Mesanna made an appearance yesterday at the Counselor's Guild in Brit and she was looking rather dark and spooky.

Not only was she dressed for the season she was there to dye pumpkins from last year a two toned neon black for those that brought along a pumpkin and many a citizen was there with pumpkin in hand. Not only did the pumpkins take on a new transformation they also were tagged with Mesanna's name. Thank you Mesanna for taking the time to visit Great Lakes.

On the subject of Halloween, many a plot over the past two weeks has been festooned with seasonal trim. Below are a few of the ones I have visited.

MOA Auction House

One of the black Mesanna pumpkins is showcased in center

One of several -Y- Guild Meeting Places

It is no secret that Lady Lava loves all things creepy and spooky in game. I could not do a halloween post without showing my private dungeon in my home. Every girl needs a dungeon !

Greetings!My name is Zuckuss, and I was recently granted the position of Catskills News Reporter.

My goal is to provide a significant contribution to the community of Catskills by providing news related material to all of those interested in reading the news of the shard.

It is my intent to work with my fellow reporters and to provide news related material for all major events as well as to assist players in sharing their own news, events and announcements to the rest of the community.

I have been a member of the UO community for over 12 years and I look forward to this opportunity to work with my fellow reporters as well as all of the members of the Catskills community.

If anyone has any questions, comments or news related material for me, please do not hesitate to contact me through PM.

Are you the best archer in the lands? Do you want to help Britannia, preserve the Virtues and make lifelong bovine buddies? If so, Lady Beauvina, Councilor of Jhelom on the High Council, is looking for you as an expert marksman!

Given the state of events currently across Sosaria, Councilor Beauvina has decided to put together a group of archers... problem is, cows don't know how to shoot bows very well! She is looking for the best archer out there, someone who can prove their worth to teach Jhelom's cows to be the fighting force they need to be against evil folk like the Bane Chosen. What better way than to hold an archery tournament?

The event will be held this Friday, October 15th at 8:00 PM (Central). It will be held at the Jollier Fairgrounds near Skara Brae by the archery buttes. Merely show up, wait your turn and tally up 10 shots. Highest total points will be the winner! First place will win 1 million gold, Second place will be awarded 500,000 gold and Third place will take home 250,000 gold. In addition, the winner will have bragging rights as the first cow teacher of archery skills... and how great is that?

There will be a ‘Halloween’ themed contest on Monday, October 18th at 8pm cst. It will be held at the Magincia Library and Museum, which currently resides in the old Councilor’s Guild in Nujel’m. This month, all those wishing to attend should dress in a themed costume. Halloween masks, Polymorphs, Animal Form spells are all welcome, as are merely dressing up in costume. Every person wishing to enter should prepare a limerick style poem that somehow ties into their chosen costume.

All entries should be written in a book that will be presented before the audience as well as passed on for judging. Winners will be decided on technique, creativity and best use of costume with limerick by Lady Silverbrook and Justicar Ra’Dian Fl’Gith. First place will take home 2 million, Second place 1 million and Third place 500,000 gold. There will also be ‘Monster’- themed trivia during the night for attendees, and each question answered will be worth 100,000 gold.

You can find the Magincia Library and Museum on the eastern side of Nujel'm. Runes will also be at the estate of Lady Silverbrook (northern shores of Magincia) and the High Council chambers (in Compassion Grove). The Library's roof can be easily accessed by a teleporter on the building's side, where the event will be held. It is our hope to see you there for a most spooktacular night!

(As always, please remember that funding for events on the Great Lakes shard can be assisted by use of the Magincia Endowment for the Arts and Community Affairs! If you wish to hold an event for the public, please ask how this is possible.)

Event Addition- To Celebrate Halloween Friday October 29th, (Date may change)to go along with the "Festival of the Harvest Moon."

Halloween Treat- Farmer Jack's Puzzlin' Pumpkin Patch.

Stealing Events- We will continue to have them. Poseidon's Fury- We have a huge event planned for the conclusion of the Poseidon's Fury Map quests. There are 4 map pieces recovered, well three. The Magician stole one.

Boat Battles- Next month we will be revisiting PvP boat battles. We will restrict it to a confined area for that. Plus you can use that tracking start command to help. Basically we will put some timed items in your holds.

EM Drosselmeyer

For those of you who tried your hands at the coordinate puzzle at Sheffield's house. An extraordinary effort was put forth by one Fanny Firebottom, But she has not yet solved it. However, since she did put so much work into it...I gave her a hint, which I will now give to all of you.

Several players have checked the locations of the coordinates: This is a complete red herring. The locations do not matter in the least. Look at the coordinates, and you might notice a few strange things...A few numbers seem to repeat often; A few seem to almost...punctuate the coordinate set. And since the first book had a code, undoubtedly there is a code hidden in the coordinate book...The Locations themselves are a complete red herring, and mean nothing. And again, the reason you all get this hint is because of the tireless efforts of Miss Firebottom. If no one solves it, the key will be posted just before the next investigation event.

Player Announcements

Mesanna came to visit the SHE auction on Saturday. Afterward she announced,If she finds Mesanna Jack-O-Lanterns the big ones from last year She will dye them black. There are some on display at the Zedland tavern [Mesanna's post on Stratics]

South Aryslan, Felucca, Chesapeake – October 12, 2010 – by Ashlynn – Aryslan has recently opened a new establishment within their town called the Silent Auction, an auction house that operates in a much different way to the more traditional kind the people of the realm are mostly familiar with.

The Auction House even has a bar downstairs!

The owner of the establishment is a citizen of South Aryslan named Pidge and he explained to me in detail exactly how the auction works:

Those interested in selling something simply leave their item or lot in the mailbox along with a book detailing who the seller is, an ICQ number and the minimum or starting bid. The item is then placed upstairs on a counter in the selling hall infront of a bidder’s board. Bidders can place bids by posting their bid along with their own details. Items run for about a week, tuesday to sunday. Items must be in the box by tuesday, 7am EST and bidding ends at sunday, 7pm EST.

The selling hall where items are displayed.

I was informed that the idea for the auction house was initially conceived by Tenchu of Aryslan and I think it definately brings something unique to the community. This method of auctioning items also ensures it does not directly compete with the larger auction houses which means it is only adding something to the shard instead of dividing it.

The auction house can be found in Felucca, South Aryslan along the coast. To get there, take the Luna Town Hub to the ruins of Old Aryslan. A house-to-house teleporter can be found in the guard tower beside the ruins. As the auction house is in felucca, be sure anything valuable is insured or left at home.

Commander Daeryn Whyte started by explaining her actions at the end of the Mysterious Substance quest lead by Alexander Valthos. She told us that she suspected he was up to a devious plot, possibly to overthrow the reign of Queen Dawn. She asked us to keep an eye on Alexander and pay attention to any actions of say gathering weapons or fomenting a rebellion against our Queen. Our mission tonight was to obtain a Ratman Shaman Relic. Our source, a ratman by the name of Ekiuki, stated that the world would be in great danger if the evil ratman faction was able to obtain such a relic. Our insider led us to the Sanctuary dungeon west of Britain.

Our forces scrambled to get to the lower level of Sanctuary where the Ratman Shaman was last spotted. In a rush to enter the battle many fell prey to the deadly spike traps in the rat's nest we now trek through.

Our orders were clear Commander Daeryn Whyte wanted us to find the Ratman Shaman or clues to where he may have fled to. The dark cavern was full of ratman who claimed to be part of the Clan "Scratch".

Battling our way we were able to find evidence that the Ratman Shaman had in-fact been in this lair. We were able to discover an"odd ratman object" 135 26n 6 28w, a "Lost Ratman Shaman Staff" 132 37n 6 7w, and a "Very crude map from Sanctuary to ice dungeon" 130 46n 4 25w.

The crude map discovered, lead us to the Ice Dungeon. Scouring the grounds we headed to the ratman fort on the lower level. Clan Scratch had amassed a large group of their forces in this area. Pushing our way through the front gates many Clan leaders were pulverized by our group as we thwarted the onslaught deeper into the fort. The Ratman Shaman bolstered through the fort gates and started to attack.

An awesome battle occurred and with his last breath, the Ratman Shaman let loose a powerful magic spell setting half the fort area a blaze. Sifting through the ashes the relic was discovered. The relic now in the possession of Commander Daeryn Whyte we made our way back to the guard post in Castle British.

With the relic safe in hand, Commander Daeryn Whyte placed the relic in a metal chest. The true power of this item is still not known.

The event item for this evening was a "Ruby-Encrusted Ratman Wand". Ten lucky participants were able to loot the item from corpses that lay at their feet.

Ultima Online received GDC Hall of Fame Award

Many know Jeremy Preacher as a former Community Manager at Ultima Online. While her path has taken her on to other projects, we asked if she would contribute her input as she attended the GDC Online Awards as a guest writer for Stratics. Ultima Online has garnered a lot of attention lately with good reason. We'd like to thank Jeremy for giving us a glance at the evening:

The huge auditorium is dim and half-full - it’s party night at GDCO and a lot of folks have gone to fortify themselves against the inevitable free drinks. The people who did show up are suspiciously well-dressed for game developers. I’ve taken care of the queso-and-margarita requirement early, and I’m ready with pen and paper to do this the old-fashioned way - tipsy and in shorthand.

The Game Developers Choice Online Awards are a brand-new spinoff of the long-running Game Developers Choice awards. The Hall of Fame award, specifically, is awarded by the advisory committee itself - and it’s probably a testament to the justice of the award that four of the eleven members work or worked on UO, and another is an old-school Ultima designer.

There are a few awards before the Hall of Fame award presentation. There are no runners-up or anything, which makes sense when I see the logistics involved in the acceptance. First Mythic’s General Manager, Eugene Evans, comes up to start things off. Eugene was my boss for part of the time I worked there - he’s a sweet, sincere guy, and knows his business. He says, "It’s an honor to be the current torchbearer of this bright flame burning for 14 years." He mentions that UO is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Longest Running MMORPG.

The man everyone was expecting to see, Richard Garriott, is in... Kuala Lumpur. (Hey, at least it’s not space!) He did record a video congratulating everyone on the award, to be played in his absence. In the video, he’s wearing a very Lord-British-esqe black button-down with embroidered cuffs (what, it’s an awards show! I have to talk about the clothes.) He modestly (and accurately, from what I understand) disclaims credit in favor of Starr Long and Raph Koster.

Next up are the aforementioned luminaries as well as Rich Vogel, who was the producer starting about seven months before launch. Starr Long is credited as the director. Raph Koster, of course, was the lead designer. Starr’s wearing a jacket and tie - and plaid pants. He’s dapper, but still a game dev. They line up neatly and take the mic in turn.Rich wants to thank Chris Yates, who was a VP of Technology at EA at launch. He also says what everyone I talked to all week agreed on, that running that first year of UO was "the wild, wild west."

Raph: "Wow." He lets that hang there for a minute. He talks about bringing his daughter in a baby carrier to the office - "Now she’s a teenager and doesn’t want to talk to me." He also says, "For me, it’s about the stories people tell. The people who got married." He was at a guild conference, and there were kids there younger than the game. "It’s great to make a game and know that it really touched people’s lives."

Starr sounds like he’s seen an awards show or two, and reels off a list of thank-yous - he thanks Richard Garriott, Larry Probst, Rick (doesn’t give a last name - maybe Zinser?) the players, including Rainz, who assassinated Lord British and "showed us the players were in control," all the devs who came after, his parents, his wife, and his baby daughter, who he brought in a baby carrier "to complete the cycle."

They then formally recognize all the producers of UO:- Rich Vogel, launch and The Second Age- Bryan Walker, Third Dawn and Renaissance- Rick Hall, Lord Blackthorn’s Revenge- Anthony Castoro, Age of Shadows and Samurai Empire- Jessica Lewis, Mondain’s Legacy- Aaron Cohen, Kingdom Reborn- Calvin Crowner, Stygian Abyss and High Seas.

Nearly all of these people are in the audience, but for one or two who couldn’t make it. All of them are still active and influential in the video game world. They ask everyone in the audience who worked on the game to stand up. About a quarter of the crowd does. They ask everyone who played the game to stand up, and it’s closer to three quarters. It’s a quick visual representation of just how much influence UO has had on the industry. These are the people giving awards and winning them in online games, and the vast majority were touched by UO early on in their careers.

They close on a video of the really important part - players talking about the game. Everyone loves to tell stories of the good old days, even when those stories involve "being mugged in-game!" Over the next couple of days, we’ll bring you some of those stories from ex-UO players and developers who are still active in the industry - stay tuned!

A letter to the King of Akalabeth, recovered from the Lyceum archive, author unknown

Estimated date of writing: 30 years pre-Britannia

To my liege and King, Your Majesty, with my revered obedience,

It is with great ire and revulsion that I cogitate upon the actions of Fawn's merchant navy, and great fear toward what yet may come as consequence. This, of course, being of no fault of His Majesty the King, but of my own abhorrence for the grievous brutality exhibited by these maritime merchants several years ago. Witnessing the fate of Mr. Nelson shall forever haunt me.

Jonah Nelson was a naturalist of unusual sorts. Whilst most sought to capture and study the beings of our world, Mr. Nelson only looked toward their isolation from the damnation of our human influences. It is with this great fervor that he traveled to the City of the Sea, in hopes of combating what he perceived as pillaging of the aquatic fauna. Indeed the waters around the island of Fawn proved a most suitable habitat for fish and mammalian of much diversity.

The Merchant Navy of Fawn, the foremost beneficiaries of the fishing fleets, would quickly find themselves in the routeway of Mr. Nelson's crusade. Many a day and night he actively campaigned against the business of the merchants. It was with my own eyes and ears I was able to behold the enchanting rhetoric of the naturalist. I was only but one of many swayed by the words of a man whom fought for the health of the world's beast with disregard for his own being.

Yet, a man that stands in the way of profit is a man marked for death. The merchants would make this so. My stomach rolls and my eyes sting as I recall that fateful day in the Canteen. There I sat for a drink with the great naturalist in hopes of questioning the man on his aspirations. Before just a single stroke of my pen could be made in respect for Mr. Nelson, the cronies of the Merchant Navy stormed in. Mr. Nelson, and I due to proximity, were apprehended by the men and taken to a location unknown.

Ever more protective of life other than his own, the naturalist courageously spoke out in my defense. The thugs respected his word, and would do me no harm. Unfortunately they would not show such restraint in their treatment of this eminent man. The men sat him in a chair, lashing his legs and one arm. They restrained his free arm, and brought upon it a most dulled and corroded blade. The hoarse screams of the man turned my blood to ice. The inadequate piece of metal strained as it sawed through each thread of flesh. Upon removal of his hand, and much of his forearm, a hot iron was brought to the wound. Their intention was clear. They did not wish him to die, yet. They still had more punishment to exact upon him. The rusted blade was again brandished, and set upon his lips with the same brutality as was his arm.

Mr. Nelson, bloodied and unconscious, was dragged to a nearby wharf where a small boat awaited. The boat sailed off, returning several hours later without the naturalist. My heart would sink at the realization of his fate. To endure his torture only to meet the slow death of drowning was not a death befitting such a person.

I write this report to Your Majesty in hopes of conveying caution. As you already know, a fortnight ago the entirety of Fawn's merchant fleet met its ruin. A terror of immensity has befallen the sailors of Sosaria. One such account claims this terror to have a crushing chela titanic in size, and tentacles where a mouth should be.

Your Majesty, I believe the naturalist has returned, and I fear he will make us all pay dearly.

We are continuing to monitor the boards as publish 68 continues. Here are the immediate items discovered in today’s publish and have been updated. Simply log out and patch your client for the following fixes:

Players experiencing lag with housing

Tokuno ship dropping cannons (will be fixed during daily maintenance)

Dismounting a horse creates an additional horse

In other news:

I know players are having problems logging in to the UOGamecodes site. The trouble is one of traffic, but we are also having our network operations looking at our side for login server issues for player accounts. They have rebooted the server controlling logins, and will continue to monitor the service as the traffic continues.

Also, stay tuned for:

High Seas Fiction – we have some amazing player fiction to share with you in two parts. Part I will immediately follow this post.

Updates to the Live Arc – If you participated in the Invasion at Yew Prison this weekend share what you may have learned with other players.

Magincia is about to have a subtle makeover …

Return to Britannia ends tomorrow morning. Anniversary items are done, tested, and will be released in the next few days.

High Seas Helpful Hint:

You may not dry-dock your ship with a pirate binding pole (from one of the bounty quests) on the deck. If you need to dry-dock your boat quit the quest and the binding pole will disappear.

GDC Interviews:

While at GDC last week, I was privileged to meet some fantastic folks from MMORPG.com, Massively, Gamasutra, Zam, Gamebreaker TV, Curse.com, and our friends at Stratics.

With the release of High Seas (Publish 68) we have a number of changes and new features being introduced. Below we have provided notes both for features included in the purchase of the booster pack as well as those that benefit all current players.

Thanks and have fun,The Ultima Online Team

Publish 68 Notes - 10/12/10

Adventure on the High Seas Booster Pack

Below are the new features associated with the High Seas Booster pack Entitlement

New Ship Types

Gargoyle and Tokuno Ships can be purchased at the Sea Market.

An Orc Ship is given as a quest item; you will receive the deed in pieces.

Row boats – Temporary boat that moves at a very slow speed, can be deployed from deep sea.

You will only be allowed to have one boat placed at a time – Pre High Seas boats will continue to function until they are dry-docked.

On Tuesday, 10/12/10 at 10:00AM EDT all shards will be brought offline to prepare for the release of Ultima Online: High Seas. We anticipate the update should be completed by 2:00PM EDT.

Patch notes will be made available tomorrow during the update, for a list of features and where to buy the High Seas booster pack please click here. Continue reading below for important information about this update.

Things you need to know:

- In preparation for publish 68 we are recommending all players who are pre-positioning around the sea market area remove your boats. Move them or lose them!

- There will be a follow up publish in the near future to add 13th year Anniversary items, additional fixes for the live game as well as a push for the live story arc.

Clients:

- Those who used the High Seas Beta client for Test Center will not be able to use that same client when going live. Please uninstall the beta client. Use your normal enhanced or classic client installers and patch when publish 68 goes live.

- High Seas will work in both legacy and enhanced clients.

Store Expectations:

- High Seas will be available at both UOGamecodes.com and the EA Store. We will provide direct links for both pages, as they become available. The codes will available today October 11th, however will not be redeemable until Pub 68 goes live tomorrow.

- European players may not be able to access the North American EA store, so please purchase from uogamecodes.com instead.

- Also, please note that 90 day and 180 day Gametime codes will also be available for the U.S and Europe on the uogamecodes store. There were a few players who have asked for this option, so those codes should also be available via the store.

- In the past some players experienced problems with purchasing multiple items from the EA store, or the limits on the UOGamecode store.

- The purchasing limit on UOgamecode store has been increased for a short time. If you have problems purchasing multiple times with the EA store please contact EA customer support.

- More information will be provided in the patch notes tomorrow October 12th.

I heard this morning that Magincia was under attack and my first instinct was to go and assist in any way i could. I quickly realized that i am but a reporter and could offer no real assistance. I remebered K^T was heading to Magencia to try to ward off some of the invaders and i asked them if i could tag along. When we arrived, right out of the gate, was a Blackrock Golem.

Most definitely one of the fiercest creatures we would face, because of this the Blackrock Golem really caught my eye. We decided to bring down this massive creature to examine it a bit more closely and to see what it might have on its body. I was particularly excited considering i do not know many of whom have brought one down. Infact i have heard many times, that it takes hours and a good group of mage tamers to actually do some real damage. Either way, we were there and we were going to attempt it. We had three Knights from K^T with us, Eragon, A Knight of Humility, Talia Eve, a Squire of Virtue and Scorpio, an Inspecter Inquisitor or one of the "Order" Leaders, two of which had there greater dragons as well.Home : The Knights of the Ancient Truth - Sonoma - Ultima Online - Guild Launch Guild HostingWe commensed to attack the Blackrock Golem, Starting with dragons. What we thought would be an easy cycle of healing, quickly turned into a frantic, greater heal fest, just to keep the two dragons alive.

After about an hour of pulling one dragon away to heal, then the other, our prayers were answered. Lord Anderson of the Ultima Missfits came along and offered a his healing expertise.ORIGIN - Ultima Online - MyUO Guild Pages With all of 3 healers and the two dragons, we started to see the fight turn our direction. Before too long, about another hour, The Blackrock Golem was out of life, our dragons were exahausted from a hard faught battle and we were extatic to bring down this massive creature to our feet.

All in all we did not gain a whole bunch, just around 650 gold pieces and some good information for anyone wanting to attempt this themselves. Below is some of the Information we recieved:

The body did not have anything great to loot, nor did any of use recieve any sort of drop, so.... Great fun, not real profitable, but a learning experience all the same.

A massive group of citizens gathered at the counselor's hall in Britain. To our surprise "A filthy nasty grave robber" was digging his way through the floorboards. The filthy nasty grave robber told us he kept hearing voices in his head. He also admitted to digging up graves in hopes to loot and plunder the dead. However he was unable to find any graves with bodies in them. We were lead to the outskirts of Cove.

Upon entering the Cove Graveyard we saw A Skeletal lich, A Cursed Steed, A putrid undead, An Undead Daemon. As the waves of citizens poured through the gate we quickly overran the undead horde.

The waves of warriors at the scene were being crushed against the fence as we flowed into battle. Some of the unlucky were used as weapons against the vile undead beasts as their bodies were pressed against the undead minions by the crowds behind them. All that remained were puddles of blood dripping into the empty graves.

With the sheer force we had made quick work of the remaining creatures that spawned before us which included: Mutating rotting corpse, A vile pumpkin eater, A daemonic terror, A dark lich and A cursed wyrm. These undead creatures could barely dig themselves out of the grave before a swarm of the citizens started beating them. I think I even saw "Uncle Rico" weilding a pitch fork after he broke his Axe in the back of one of the creatures.

Some people reported witnessing "The Phantom Rider" walking around in the midst of the carnage. I wonder if this may be the reincarnation of Ichabod Crane.

Within a blink of the eye "The Phantom Rider" disappeared and suddenly "a laggy ass monster" dug its way from the grave. This monster must have been extremely laggy as its the last one I saw!

Upon clearing most of the devious undead creatures from the graveyard a strange bellowing came from the ground. I swear it said "He will follow you to your homes. Your torment will never cease!" Perhaps all should be on guard, our homes and cities may need a watchful eye upon them.

A record high player base were on pacific this evening counting at least 220! A small amount of event items were loot-able from the corpses. They appearance is similar to the skull candles in doom but have an orange hue to them. They are labeled "An Especially Spook Skull with Candle"

It’s come to my attention that there is not a clear way to send attachments, i.e. screenshots via the GTB “contact us” link. Below I have posted my email address to be used to make it a little easier :) For those of you who wish to send screenshots of your halloween houses, send them on!

The Smithsonians of Baja will have its first Bi-monthly event starting this month (towards the end of the month - more information will be released as we draw near). The event type will always be scavenger hunt style but with a twist. Scattered amongst the 7 buildings of the Smithsonians are over 1,000 Server Births/Seer Items/Event Items and during each scavenger event, participants will be given a book of clues to find the items on the scavenger list. Prizes will be awarded in various categories. The Smithsonians boasts being the biggest collection of rares in all of UO. This is a great way to learn about the histories to some of the rarest items ever created in this game.

The Smithsonian museums are located just east exit of Umbra. There are 6 buildings there with the Smithsonian symbol on the house sign. A hidden museum is accessible via glowing rune on the 1st floor of the Smithsonian Central Wing.

Blackrock golems have been spotted in Magincia. Last night blackrock golems were spotted desecrating the island which once held the majestic city of Magincia. A horde of Bane humanoids, pets and demons have also been sighted. Little is still known about the alignment of the Bane forces. With the recent war between the Bane and Ophidian armies, perhaps the ophidians were the righteous creatures.

Not only do these blackrock juiced up creatures hit hard, they also chase after their enemies at a high rate of speed. Rumors are they are weak against cold damage. A few tamers and spell casters can successfully take down one of these blackrock golems with some work.

Want to go hunting but don't have a big enough group? Are you looking for good guides to dungeons you've yet to explore?

The community hunts are open to everyone! Come show your support for the Lake Superior community and take a walk on the wild side at the same time. Meet some new and old friends and have a bit of a challenge along the way.Lava Caldera mini-champ hunt (Stygian Abyss)Date: Tuesday, October 12thTime: 8:00PM CST Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bank Host: Taeara Mi'Aken

Community Peerless Hunt Date: Wednesday, October 13thTime: 8:00PM CST Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bankHost: Taeara Mi'Aken

Date: Monday, October 11, 2010Time: 10:00 PM EDT/9:00 PM CDTNote Location Change: Parliament Building, Magincia, Trammel Facet(the parliament building is found on the south eastern most corner of the island)

Meeting Agenda:

- Updates regarding the investigation on current threats to the High Council.

- The High Council will discuss the present political and military situation in the realm.

It was a lovely Saturday evening. Some of us where getting ready for a trip to dungeon Doom. Just a few minutes before we wanted to leave a messenger came running and screaming at the West Britain Bank. The message came from Sherry the mouse. Yew Prison was under attack! Our oath to defend Britannia against evil came before our adventure to Dungeon Doom. Soon enough we spread the word to go to defend Yew prison,not knowing what we are up against. When we arrived the Bane Chosen with the help of daemons and blackrock golems where all over the Yew Prison.

It was a hard fight against countless of enemies and these blackrock golems are tremendous adversaries!

After defeating several of the banes we found some books in there pockets.

The book is very disturbing and i headed to magincia if something was going on.

A large forced is walking around Magincia. To many for a few people to defeat. I hope scouts will report these new troubles in Magincia to Queen Dawn. We will need a army to defeat this new troubles.

Several Nights ago one Sherry the Mouse summoned the noble folk of Britain to the castle, after the murmurs and foot falls had ceased she noted with much vigor that Queen Dawn had departed for the evening, along with her cadre of the Royal Guard, and that during this time a very large force had descended onto the Prison in Yew! With swords and hopes high the force mobilized.

Blackrock! Deamons! Bane! Hellish puppies from the infernal plane! Shields met mineral, maul, and monster all the same! The Royal Guard pushed into the courtyard of the prison, when a familiar face Dawned on the Horizon. The Queen herself, making an early departure from her weekend engagement.

And then the golems exploded and new demons appeared, having clearly bathed in poison in preparation for the beatings that soon commenced.

An exceptionally long and hard fought battle took the Guard to Ricardo's cell, discovering only his clothing and a book that spoke of a force manifesting on Magincia, but perhaps the most ponderous happening? After a grief stricken Dawn failed to dismiss the crowd, Sherry announced that the Queen's Husband had been kidnapped. Britannia has a king? Keep your eyes to the skies true believers!

Dawn seems to have embraced the virtue of Valor on this day, the brief glimpse of weakness shown is only a momentary stumble for a true hero of our lands.

There are many wonderful sites and sounds in the vicinity of Luna. One such site is that of the Legendary Dreams Rune Library.

Opened on February 20, 2010 it wasn't so much planned as honed and evolved over a period of time. The proprietor of this establishment is Ander. A 5 year veteran of the game, he enjoys attention to detail and filling a need in the community.

Legendary Dreams fills a spot in the community that many of us tend to take for granted. How many times have you wanted to hit a specific destination but knew you were going to end up running your tushy off to get to it? With the implementation of this facility, you don't have to as someone has already done the running for you.

An advocate of implementing suggestions, Ander is always willing to accept input. This was demonstrated quite clearly when halfway through our interview I asked for public dye tubs. I was then politely reminded about another feature of this rune library. That feature is of course the house to house teleporters located on the first floor.

A permanent fixture of the library they can take you to various shops that are being highlighted by Legendary Dreams. These teleporters are permanent or changed only at the request of the establishment owner to whom they are linked. And as for my public dye tubs request, Alea's pad in the back row, will easily get me to them.

Additionally as I concluded this interview I was asked to give credit, as the Rune Library is a product of a lot of helping hands. Per my Promise, here are those honorable mentions verbatim:

Lord Nabin - He has graciously donated the use of several sets of telepads and is also a very big community project investor... without his help i guarantee that the library would not have near what it does! Special Thanks and acknowledgment to him!

Lord MORDIE - Original author and design mogul, was very big into deco and this base model of the house was his original build! A creative Genius with UO and its deco mechanics.

Lord Cortez-For making reproduction of the books possible and for outstanding support of a friend.

Those of you who would like to submit a request to Ander may do so using Stratics as he goes under the name of AND3R. Also, I would be more than happy to pass along requests. Also of note is that most new additions are added same day they are introduced into the game.

Welcome to FAQ Friday - Where we've collected together answers to Frequently (and sometimes not so frequently) Asked Questions within the community.

Want to see your question up here? We select questions fromUO Stratics andUO Forums, so head over to your favorite forum community and post your question - we might answer it in a future post!

Please keep in mind that these won’t always address major topics of conversation, this is simply another way of sharing info about the game that won’t necessarily make it into a Producer’s Update or patch note.

Q - Would it be possible to make (non gargoyle) necklaces imbue-able? They take the same slot as a gorget and in some suits necklaces just look so much better than a gorget... Or is there something I am overlooking that makes this a bad idea?

Mesanna – The Human/Elf necklace does not have any armor rating or resists on it, comparing it to a gorget the gorget wins every time. But to be honest we never even thought about making a new art imbue-able necklace since we have gorget already in the game.

Q - I thought this is a bossmonster resource like the dreadhorn mane, but i found nothing usefull on this head.

What can i do with this head? Is there a plan that it becomes a use in the future?Mesanna – Originally we were going to use this as a resource but we discovered it was not needed. We do have a few ideas for it in the future that I think you guys will like.

Trystan Dunn nearly stumbled on his cloak as he raced towards the castle. As he ran past Town Guard Yosh, he crashed into Elias Ashmole.

My apologies, Lord!…. But I am glad to see you! …I have urgent … *coughs catching his breath*

Speak, recruit! Catch your breath and speak! I can tell from your face that you have dire news.

My Lord.. *pauses* I was just informed by some citizens that there is a daemonic invasion of Magincia.

Elias frowned heavily on hearing this news.

Magincia? Again? Fah! Very well, go now and keep three eyes open, recruit. This could mean another invasion of Britain.

As Elias turned around and rushed towards the castle, Trystan overheard him mumbling something about Queen Dawn visiting her husband.

Nearly an hour since reporting the news to Elias, town criers started shouting:

In light of the renewed Daemonic activity amongst the ruins of Magincia, Captain Jenkins will lead a scout party to assess the situation on the ground. In the meantime, the town guards of Britain have been requested to be on an extra vigil.

Captain Jenkins will be leading interested scouts from the steps of Castle Britannia at 3:15 PM PST.

Ones again the people of Britannia where asked to come to a very important meeting at the counselors hall in Britain. Daliah the Warlord wanted to talk to us about the increased pirates incidents at the shores of Sosaria.

A very large crowd of curious people where waiting for Daliah.

Daliah was very concerned about these events at our shores. But before she could do anything she had to consult with Queen Dawn.

Meanwhile while everyone was waiting for Daliah's return a Fisherman stumbled into the counselors hall. He was wounded.

Pablo came to tell that he was attacked while he was just fishing. A armada of ships showed up at the horizon. Ten of the fifteen ship turned towards Pablo's boat . Five others turned to another way. Barely escaped Pablo came as fast as he could to the counselors hall. He noted down the last coordinates for Daliah on a map so she could look for these pirates.

Shortly after Daliah came back from Queen Dawn. The Queen gave Daliah the order to do whatever she could against these pirates. The large crowd surely wanted to help Daliah with this difficult task. Daliah had a ship ready at the docks of Britain. A good thing there where several more ships at the docks to sail. One ship would not hold these many crewman.

Daliah followed Pablo's map exactly. Sure enough we started to sail towards Cove. Then we saw the ships. High up in the sky a flag with skull and bones. We found the pirates!

But when we came closer to Cove we saw that the town was overran by them. These where no normal pirates! They where already death! Undead Pirates! Our ships landed at the shores. Soon enough the crew where attacked by lots of undead pirates!

At first there seemed no end to these undead pirates but these brave hero's fought against them all. My eye fell on some plans on the docks.

We could not make anything out of it. Daliah heard something from the barrels near the docks. It was a Captain of the ships.

After Captain Jack Swallow was defeated we found a special sextant on his body. Daliah decrypted the plans and saw that these pirates where preparing a invasion. Also the location of the other five ships.

Daliah made sure the ten ships went up in smoke.

The others ships where located near Honor island. Lucky some mages had runes to the island to shorten the trip. Again when the hero's arrived at the island more undead pirates where waiting for them.

After another long battle our hero's where victorious ones again. Daliah set fire to the remaining five ships.

One more island had to be cleared but before that restock of bandages,arrows and some badly needed repairs had to be done. Our hero's made a stop at the Luna moongate.

It was time for the final battle.

I'm sure Queen Dawn will be proud with all these brave man and woman fighting for there freedom. For freedom on land and seas.

They stopped this invasion this time but was this just a one time happening? Or will we see more ships with skull and bones flags on the horizon?

As you run thru Central Ilshenar, it may be said that there are many deadly things to encounter. Today I would like to highlight one in particular, the Savage. Savages can be found in many places but they originated in Ilshenar. One of their first encampments can be found near Blackthorn's Ilshenar Castle. .

Savages are cunning and crafty, wearing not much more than a bit of bone armor on their arms and legs and oft times are seen carrying a spear. They are tattooed with primitive markings and cover their skin with a paint made of tribal berries. They live in small villages adorned by grass huts. They are ruled by a chieftain and are a close-knit group. Within their tribes, are fierce warriors that ride the savage ridgebacks. Savage Shamans are the magic wielders of the tribe. I found this out the hard way as my Savage Kin Paint began to wear, and a powerful bolt of lightning style magic laid me low.

As spears whizzed past my head, it soon became clear that I should indeed begin a hasty retreat. It was at this point, as I scurried from their lands, that I began to wonder, will I be caught and made into a fine stew? Yet more importantly, what role do the savages hold in Sosarian History? This of course lead me to a late night research party at the Britannian Library to which I was the only guest. However after many hours, my search paid off, and I found the information I sought.

In the days of Blackthorn and Exodus, and their reign of terror, the Savages were manipulated to invade Britannia. They started with the Orcs driving them from their caves. Yet it did not stop there, they also began an assualt upon the human establishment of Cove. A rare three-sided battle ensued, with humans, Orcs and Savages all struggling for survival. As fate would have it, the Savage attacks were nothing more than a distraction to hide the work of Exodus and Blackthorn. All three sides mere pawns fighting for a wasted purpose.

Being a warrior myself, I feel a keen admiration for both Savage and Orc, the two enemies that have battled each other throughout time. Upon receiving word, that there was a tribe of Savages living within a settlement upon the Chesapeake Shard, I decided it was time to seek out perhaps friendlier types. I arrived in Kijustsu Anei Village thru the Homare-Jima gate with a grand tumble upon its grounds. There I soon was lead to the tavern and areas where the Tonkaweya tribe resided.

At last, I met Niva their Chieftan, and with a fierce Hooo-aaahh she invited me into her Tavern. It was not your typical wood establishment, it still held all the grassy savage elements of home as well as a bit of stonework intermixed for solidity.

A grateful and thirsty traveler, I gladly accepted the Savage ale that Niva herself offered. This ale made of tribal berries was delicious and I proceeded to drink two bottles of it. I am glad I took the ale, as there was some talk of the savage's wine gaining its reddish hue from actual blood added to it. Of course, no one would really tell me who or whats blood was used, it was just best I didnt know. Niva also pointed out a boiling pot and offered us the house specialty, Orc Stew. While I am a person of fortitude I had to pass, as I find Orc meat to usually be a bit tough. All in all, the eve was pleasant and ended with a tour of the settlement's of Kijustsu Anei Village and PaxOku. I will have to visit again maybe bring some of the ale back home for others to try. I would like to thank Niva and the the people of these settlements for their warm hospitality.

On a fine fall eve in Silvervale, Lady Oni played host to round one of the USA alliance dart league. With particpants eyeing the nights first place prize of 250k along with valuable points towards the months championship, the competition was made all the better as the city of Guardians Gate offered a million gold to the player with the highest three shot round during the night. Fifteen competiors in all came out for the October leagues opening round as Naitch of (SoSV) taking the nights first place honors with Brutus Anvil (RBG) finishing a close second making off with not only the 100k second place prize but also the 1 million gold prize for the high round of (65)! In third place was the nights host Lady Oni claiming 50k for her efforts. In fourth was Gunga Din (MERX) and Daria Blackmoore (RBG) rounding out the evenings top five. Congratulations to the round one champion and join us in the city of Kijustsu Anei for round two this coming Monday at 9pm EST to join in the action! A few pics of the night:

Normally we reserve this space for TGN Stratics produced videosbut in light of the exciting news that Ultima Online has received the GDC Inaugural Hall of Fame Award, we felt this video deserved to be showcased.

Brother Duncan, friar of the Order of Pragmatic Wisdom (formerly, Brother Duncan's Home for Wayward Girls), contacted the Freeborn Press this morning to advise that the Cloister seems to be missing one Sister Moira Ó Caiside.

Sister Moira stands about 5'3" and is slender, with reddish-brown hair. She was last seen visiting with an editor of the Freeborn Press, who has been questioned by the town guard but is not under suspicion.

The Cloister of the Order of Pragmatic Wisdom is located north of the shrine of Justice in Trammel. It is rumored that this Virtue is Moira's preferred spiritual mantra, as it carries significant weight among all of Brother Duncan's girls.

Brother Duncan expressed particular concern that Sister Moira may be somewhat naive, not accustomed to the ways of the modern world, having seldom left his care since her seclusion. He indicated that she is of the utmost virtue and conservative faith and would be easily recognizable by her devout values.

She is said to have an outgoing demeanor and makes friends easily.

The friar also indicated that her hobbies include interior decoration, gardening, and folding paper.

Brother Duncan expressed great concern that Moira may be out in a world that means her harm and she is, no doubt, terrified, lost, and confused.

Anyone who spots Sister Moira is requested to direct her toward any town guard or return her to the Cloister of the Order of Pragmatic Wisdom.

At the time you read this Ultima Online will have received the inaugural Hall of Fame Award at the Game Developer’s Conference at the birth place of Ultima Online: Austin, Texas.

It’s been an amazing, humbling, inspiring, and fulfilling week.

I am thankful to be part of an amazing team, but more importantly I’m humbled by the experience and force that helped shape an industry … before there WAS an industry.

This Hall of Fame Award is not just about the developers. It’s not just about the fans or community. It’s not just even about the duration of time that this game has lasted.

It’s about the story of all those things combined. It’s those moments at 2 a.m. when you can’t believe you’re still playing. It’s about vengeance for a PK. It’s that immediate connection, or the widening eyes from every interviewer I’ve met who just wants to share an experience … before the launch of the first shard.

Ultima Online is all about storytelling. Every player past and present, or each developer current or past has contributed to the story. Every person who has written code, fiction, or lead an event, sabotaged another guild, or made an appointment to meet your later-to-be spouse for the first time, are all parts of what make this world legendary.

On behalf of the creators at Orgin, the current devs and developers past , every QA, community manager and CSR to every EM, seer, fansite, modder and moderator or person who has poured their time and creativity into this experience …

For those of you who didn't make it to my meet and greet today, I'd like to take a moment to introduce myself here as Atlantic's newest EM. I'm very glad to have been chosen for this wonderful shard, and I hope to see you all in-game very soon.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns you'd like to share, you can reach me at [email protected]. I try to reply to every email I get and community feedback is very important to me, so don't be afraid to say anything. However, do not send anything via Stratics forum PM - anything you send to me that way will go unread and unanswered (sorry, it's not my rule).

I'll also be keeping an eye on this thread Greetings Atlantic! and the Atlantic EM forum, so feel free to say what you want to there as well.

Again, it was great meeting everyone today, and for those I missed, I hope to meet you soon, and I'm looking forward to serving as your EM.

For those of you who didn't make it to my meet and greet today, I'd like to take a moment to introduce myself here as Atlantic's newest EM. I'm very glad to have been chosen for this wonderful shard, and I hope to see you all in-game very soon.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns you'd like to share, you can reach me at [email protected]ail.com. I try to reply to every email I get and community feedback is very important to me, so don't be afraid to say anything. However, do not send anything via Stratics forum PM - anything you send to me that way will go unread and unanswered (sorry, it's not my rule).

I'll also be keeping an eye on this thread Greetings Atlantic! and the Atlantic EM forum, so feel free to say what you want to there as well.

Again, it was great meeting everyone today, and for those I missed, I hope to meet you soon, and I'm looking forward to serving as your EM.

UOGuide is having a trivia contest in our new chat channel. Come test out your UO knowledge and win some in-game prizes! There will be dozens of questions on a variety of UO subjects. It will be a fun time.

For details on how to join the chat see UOGuide:Chat. Feel free to join anytime for UO conversation.

After speaking with Nicholas the Old on the Lumarian Bridge, Brytt Heathard had gone in search of the editor of that old newspaper from Avalon.

Looking down at some of the parchment newsprint clippings, the alemaker smiled nostalgically. "Spring Festival" "Heaven's Forge Chef Faire". Then the one which Nicholas had specifically handed to the bard announced that the editor of one of Britannia's longest running publications was looking to step into more of a retirement position. If anyone knew how to breathe some life back into the scattered BNN reporters, it was the editor of that old publication.

Stepping into the home of the literary legend, Brytt looked around. All about were books and scrolls and stories. So many stories! One could only imagine how many tales had been recorded here. The air smelled of history and ink and the older man gestured for Brytt to sit down.

The two talked. And talked. Outside the light faded and soon the windows were lit only by candlelight. When the alemaker finally left, he walked with a purpose... and a fat sack of his new employer's gold. There was a building to lease!

As the alemaker strode away, the retiring Avalon editor smiled. It was well that the name would carry on and he could finally do something of value with the wealth the small publication had accrued over the years. The events of the new generations needed to be chronicled, with panache. And, who knows? Maybe he would stay on to consult. After all, history brings perspective and what news story doesn't benefit from that?

Citizens of Baja, your News Team is proud to bring you the following announcement:

Baja's News Team will now be known, in character, as The Freeborn Press, East Britain Office.

This historic name has been revived with permission of the good folks of Avalon, who published the Freeborn Press from 1997 to 2005. You can still read the Freeborn Press archives at http://www.freebornpress.com.

Stay tuned for our new office opening and an expansion on our reporting angles. Also the staff of the Freeborn Press ask you to bear with them while a few Trammy contributors adjust to life on the other side of the moongate.

When you first enter the property you see many headstones and have to wonder if they're the graves of people who trespassed ahead of me.

Once you head up the stairs you enter what looks like a fairly normal pub, except for the fact that when you step on the carpet blood oozes out under your feet. I'd be tempted to send Caine of Nod a bill for the shoes his carpet destroyed, if I wasn't too afraid it would be my blood that someone stepped in next.

The diary left out in the open confirmed my suspicions of foul play.

The most frightening of the house is saved for last. When you reach the roof you're greeted by a sticky swamp guarded by a lone giant spider. On the far end of the swamp, if you wish to risk a spider attack, you'll find a small crematorium. Castle Nod may very well have Atlantic's very first crematorium.

A very unique decor idea makes this castle owned by Caine of Nod worthy of a visit.

Coming in the next two weeks: Swamps, Graveyards, Sacrificial rooms, & Dungeons.

Do you have a house you'd like to see posted on here or an awesome decoration idea for Halloween? Post it here, submit it as news, or PM me.

The Open Test for High Seas has ended and Test Center 9 will be closed shortly. We would like to thank everyone for their participation and feedback during this test, it has been invaluable in making High Seas a Booster Pack for all to enjoy - So prepare yourselves matey's and get an little Arrrr'n'Arrrr as we make ready to set sail next week!

Please Note: With the conclusion of this Open Test, Test Center 1 will be re-opened to all players, thank you.

Simple Witch's Cauldrons You need two cotton [plain white or dyed red], a cauldron and some kindling.

Tub of Blood [Originally done by Lady Celania of Legends] You need three dye tubs and one ball of yarn with tail pointing down.

Horse Cart [Done by Aulbrey of Atlantic] Can be done two ways. Both require two Phillips Wooden Steeds and a Coffin. Version one is shown in the picture. You will need square tan colored gozas, two spinning wheels facing south, and two wooden boards. Version two uses three yew wood tables in place of the gozas and wooden staffs in place of the boards.

Creepy Crawlies You need two rubies, one spider carapace, and one fire daemon claw.

Players may decorate their homes around the realm and submit pics via email to me here for consideration. Entries may be single floor or whole home entries to enter. Entries will be taken until October 31st at 6pm EST. The winning entry, judged by the EM's shall be announced on all hallows eve here on the forums around 10pm EST. The Winning entry shall receive an engraved plaque inside the shard reward hall with the possibility of further prizes TBA.

The Royal Guards and citizens of Guardians Gate returned home for some much needed rest Thursday night, after battling Great White Serpents at multiple locations. Unfortunately for them they would find no rest for the rest of the night. Guardians Gate citizens were caught off guard, and found themselves in a nauseating and deadly battle. The battle did not take place upon the sea this time, it took place in the heart of their own city.

Wat the Tyler was reviewing the stock of the Guardians Gate Quartermasters and Maritime Supply and was dismayed at the low amounts of supplies on hand. "How will we maintain a local capability to protect our sea lanes with this?" He muttered. As he was about to assemble the craftsmen of the Commanderie, the sound of chaos and city alarms sounded. Lieutenant Gowron responded quickly, assembling his armor and weapons and departed. "Now what?" Wat said as he left the ante room and climbed to the tower. It was quite a shocking assault of poison daemons, elementals, and such. His jaw dropped. Orc raids were not too uncommon, nor were bands of brigands, but they were quickly dispatched. This was an entirely different and heightened attack previously encountered.

After some time, Gowron returned announcing that the attacking force had been vanquished but that the fight was difficult. He also reported documents alluding that Kijustsu Anei Village and the Keys were behind it.

" Seems a council of war may be appropriate." Wat finally said. It was difficult to comprehend as there has been a certain amount of peace between the towns. "Sir, a council may be all well and good, but what will we fight with? How will we transport troops and materials to Tokuno when the Keys are already situated to block our port?" "Seems this stockpile will need to be significantly improved and assistance will be needed from our Navy friends. Where is that blasted Commodore?"

Wat returned to the ante room and called on the crafters to gather what supplies they could and be ready to put to sea.

"We will be glade to assist in the investigation to the extent that we can. As some may be aware, their are those on the Tokuno island that have a dislike for Royal Officers."

Miss Watson appeared to be very kind and good with words. Something does seem a little off about the lady though. Once she was finished, it didn't take long for the most well known Royal Guard Defector to add his two copper shillings. Lord Gareth, Former Royal Guard Captain had this to say.

"This is nothing more then a Crown plot, trying to break down Imperium relations. They perceive us as a threat! Little baby Drake should know better then to take on the adult Dragon!!! You would think his wet behind the ears sidekick Irina, would keep him in his league!!! As for an investigation, Guardians Gate should know better then to accuse us. If anything that book they found, came from the town down the road."

Whichever side you look at it from, it does not appear to look good. Guardians Gate blames Kijustsu Anei and the Keys. Kijustsu Anei officials offer assistance in the investigation, along with inhabitant accusations against the Crown, Royal Guard, and the town down the road aka PaxOku. I was unable to reach PaxOku for comment, but something tells me they did not muster up a army to march on Guardians Gate.

However, past relations between Kijustsu Anei Inhabitants, The Crown, and Royal officers does hold truth. The physical abuse from Commander Drake Foxx is no secret in the realm (pictured above). Perhaps it is the the inner workings of the Royal Guard, that needs to be investigated?

Want to go hunting but don't have a big enough group? Are you looking for good guides to dungeons you've yet to explore?

The community hunts are open to everyone! Come show your support for the Lake Superior community and take a walk on the wild side at the same time. Meet some new and old friends and have a bit of a challenge along the way.Slasher of Veils hunt (Stygian Abyss)Date: Tuesday, October 5thTime: 8:00PM CST Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bank Host: Taeara Mi'Aken

Community Peerless Hunt Date: Wednesday, October 6thTime: 8:00PM CST Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bankHost: Taeara Mi'Aken

Father Grant and Fynn Barrett met with the Royal Guard at the Ancient Snake Pen.

An elderly man named Red handed a copy of the Serpentwyne Recipe that had been found the previous week over to Fynn Barrett. Father Grant recalled the Old Abbey deep below Empath Abbey in Yew where the recipe was found.

To make the recipe the venom from Father Grants Ancient Silver Serpent would be required. However the venom, once milked, would not last long so the guard would need to work fast to make the Serpentwyne.

Father Grant began to milk the creature and collected the venom into a small bottle, Once collected Fynn opened a gate to a valley somewhere in Ilshenar.

At the mysterious valley a table and alchemy set awaited, Father Grant began to study the recipe. Conveniently Father Grant had milked the serpent before even checking he had all the ingredients!

Fynn Barrett asked everyone to listen carefully... Everyone was given a special box and a list of ingredients to collect as quickly as they could, The list was as follows:

Quote:

One pitcher of water from the Shrine of Spirituality. Freshly Cut Ginseng. 6 Cloves of Garlic, Grinded and liquified. Accurate Scales. A knife and a spoon.

(The ingredients were made up, The water was just a pitcher of water etc)

After collecting the correct ingredients, Handing them in the box to Father Grant or Fynn Barrett got you a full bottle of Serpentwyne freshly made by the hands of Father Grant.

Once you had the bottle you were asked to head through the gate that took you to Father Grants Penn.

A while later Father Grant said we would meet up another time, However suggested we give the poisoned Miners in Britain some of the Serpentwyne.

-----------------------------------------------------

Also as a final note, Septembers Monthly article will be posted tomorrow, Having a few issues with the new Photoshop and it's taking a little longer than I expected.

OCTOBER 1 2010 – The Syndicate®, an online gaming community composed of hundreds of members from around the world, was just awarded the Guinness World Record™ for being the oldest, online gaming guild. The specific definition of the record is: "With a documented history stretching back to at least February 1996, The Syndicate (www.LLTS.org) is the longest-running online guild, with 14 years, 5 months and 22 days of continuous operation as of 7 July 2010."

While there were certainly online gaming groups that existed before 1996, the key measure for this World Record was "continuous operation." In addition to proving the founding date, to set this record an applicant must have proof of continual operation from independent sources. The Syndicate had a clear time-line with dozens of independent sources dated throughout its entire history with no gaps in the time-line at all. This is what allowed this record attempt to be measured and validated. Claims of being "old" are frequently made in the online world, but an exhaustive search into those claims revealed they fall into two basic categories. Those two categories are that the claims are often unverifiable by sufficient independent, trustworthy sources or the claims were not in "continuous operation" for their entire lifespan.

"To obtain a Guinness World Record is no simple matter" said Sean "Dragons" Stalzer, President & CEO of The Syndicate®. "First, you have to determine if you can even apply for a record. There are all sorts of rules about what does and does not qualify as a record attempt. Second, you have to apply to be considered. At that stage you are evaluated on if your claim meets the criteria to be reviewed. Third, if you pass that stage then you have to prove your claim. In our case, we filed ourselves as the Oldest, Continuously Operating Online Gaming Community. Making that claim and having a website that says we are old means nothing in terms of setting a record. There is a very in-depth process which Guinness uses to determine if you should be awarded a record. You have to provide verifiable proof, from 3rd parties, that they can review, authenticate and then use to make a ruling on the record attempt. The Syndicate's nearly 15 years of history including our two Trademarks and more than 100 different articles, interviews, books and other publications were able to be analyzed and validated to prove our claim. Of course, I shouldn't discount the fact that we actually had to survive since 1996 which, in the online gaming world is a very rare feat."

Guinness World Records™ for Online Gaming related topics are very rare. Ultima Online has a series of records associated with that game including the Longest Running MMORPG. Beyond that very limited amount of records on the books, MMORPGs and related Online Gaming topics are largely unrecorded in the tomes of the Guinness World Record™ books. As such, it is significant that another aspect of online gaming culture, the oldest continuously operating guild, has been immortalized within the record books.

Additional details on The Syndicate® and to read more about the World Record please visit us at www.LLTS.org

Brytt Heathard left the company of the nuns of the Cloister of the Order of Pragmatic wisdom and thought on their advice....

He stopped at the distillery to pick up his satchel and saw the following note from the real estate office he'd visited earlier to look at potential office locations to write from:

Mr. Heathard,

Found what I think you're looking for.Please stop by when you can.

Sue, Royal Realty

Plucking the note from the door, he figured he'd stop along the way to the Britain moongate. After all, when he came back, he'd need a good desk to sit in to write up all his Feluccan tales!

At the realty office, he expected the agent to pull out another big runebook of dusty market stagnates but instead directed him a short walk down the street in Britain. Brytt was surprised when they stopped in front of Sage Advice, in East Britain.

"This place?" he asked.

The agent nodded. "The owner's evicting the previous tenants. Seems all the scribes of reknown have moved across the river. Those who remain are the ones who have been laid off and are doing freelance work."

Brytt nodded, approvingly. It was huge! There were three distinct reporter offices inside, and plenty of room for scribing and a circulation desk.

His heart sank, however, when he saw the monthly lease terms.

Shrugging, the agent packed her things and left. Brytt put his satchel over his shoulder and headed out to the Britain moongate. He took a deep breath and stepped through to a familiar gate in the old lands. Felucca. It had been a long time.

The air smelled of death and decay. He looked around at the landscape and headed in the direction of an old landmark he hoped was still there. It had been some time since he had last been there and the location helped him think. He needed to decide where to go first and how to put all of these ideas together into... something new. Something exciting. Some kind of new... news!

The sun turned tall, leafless trees into long shadows by the time Brytt reached the foot of the old Lumarian Bridges. Years ago, the only way to cross this ravine had been to walk across the decks of several ships anchored together in the water... until the bridges were built. He looked across the water and sighed.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of hoofprints. Looking to the east, Brytt saw a dark, shadowy figure approaching. The man looked worn, traveled, with a brooding expression. The man nodded at the alemaker, who then recognized Nicholas the Old. Nicholas dismounted and joined Brytt on the bridge.

The two looked across the chasm in silence for a moment before Brytt, in a moment of reporter-based nostalgia, broke it.

The cold wind arced across the bridge, cutting into them both.

Brytt told Nicholas about his feeling that the writing he did lacked a coherent purpose, that he didn't write enough about the old lands, and that he was tired of writing from the bar! He told Nicholas about the space he'd seen earlier that afternoon in East Britain, and the problems he still faced in putting something cohesive together.

"A name?" Nicholas smirked, seeming to find something amusing.

He handed Brytt some parchment clippings. Brytt flipped through them and smiled, immediately nostalgic. But then it dawned on him what Nicholas might be suggesting. Several of the clippings Brytt dismissed as irrelevant. But several had something in common. A name.

Nicholas told Brytt where he had just been and rumors unearthed... several rumors, in fact, one of which sparked Brytt's interest immensely. The two talked on the bridge for close to an hour before Brytt hurried off to the east in pursuit of...

...the resurrection of something distinctly Feluccan.

Watching the alemaker ride away, Nicholas returned his pipe to the corner of his mouth and took a long, deep puff. The cold winds brought change. Winds older than even these bridges....

Looking down at the parchment clippings, Nicholas narrowed his eyes at several that the alemaker had ignored dismissively. An onlooker would not notice any change in expression, and perhaps for the best. Stuffing them back within the folds of his cloak, Nicholas turned and mounted, galloping off in another direction entirely....

Yesterday may have been the last day of September but MOA was in full Halloween Drag.

The entire first level of the auction house is spooked out. The lovely Emerald Ice, Melian and DJ Scorp were donned in a rather haunting purple shade adding to the holiday decor. I rarely make it to the auction houses these days as it is hard to pull me away from hunting. I stayed at MOA for the first hour of the auction and it was packed and hopping, a sure sign that summer is indeed over.The great decor job inspired me to go home and take out my pumpkin from last year and get my spook on, hopefully it will inspire you.

If anyone knows of or has a plot decorated for Halloween please drop a rune in my Luna home mailbox. I will be sure to check it out.

MOA has been around a long time as has the Chicken Fight Club (CFC).For any new/young tamer this guild is a fountain of information. The fights are on saturday evenings however one of the best kept secrets is on wednesday evenings they train pets. Whenever I have a new pet I make sure to go to CFC on wednesday nights. Not only is there pet training these folks can tell you everything about all the beasts that roam our lands.

Welcome to FAQ Friday - Where we've collected together answers to Frequently (and sometimes not so frequently) Asked Questions within the community.

Want to see your question up here? We select questions from UO Stratics and UO Forums, so head over to your favorite forum community and post your question - we might answer it in a future post!

Please keep in mind that these won’t always address major topics of conversation, this is simply another way of sharing info about the game that won’t necessarily make it into a Producer’s Update or patch note.

I will apologize now for using the term “beta” in regard to the booster pack we are releasing. The better term would have been “Open Test.” The server is called “High Seas test.” During the time of test we’ve released updates during maintenance cycles, and at the time you are reading this we have a planned publish that addresses:

Several weeks ago we started taking action on those who have been repeat offenders using non-sanctioned 3rd party applications. As Customer Support (CS) began to take action, the violation clause referenced in the termination email may have been misleading to some players who may not have understood the action taken fully. While CS was directed from the data gathered over the last several months, the proof for terminating the accounts was based on using illegal 3rd party programs, some used for unattended macroing. That is why the “ticket” or actual action clause may have stated unattended macroing, as at the time of the action those specific players may have been caught for the “unattended macroing” offense. Unattended macroing is a serious offense of the ToS to begin with. Under normal circumstances, this offense is punishable with a warning, suspension, and up to an account termination depending on the severity of the offense. Coupled with the proof of repeated offenses via the 3rd party program detection, those accounts were terminated.

I’ve spoken with CS and in the future those accounts will receive consistent messaging in the termination email being sent to the offenders. However, the fact remains there exists valid evidence that the players removed did violate the terms and conditions of the agreement upon entering the game and did so willfully. Some players used 3rd party programs for unattended macroing, while some players used it for various other reasons.

Also, in terms of “warning:” When a player clicks through the Terms of Service (ToS) and license agreement you are effectively entering contract with both EA and fellow players that you will “play by the rules.”

Some players are asking: “Why when we are losing players are you terminating accounts?”

The players of the Ultima Online community have every right to play and create in an environment free of those abusing the system or gaining advantage. There’s never a bad time to do the right thing.

Publish 68:

In addition to High Seas Development we have live fixes slated for release along with the booster pack. As we get closer to booster launch we will release the combined publish notes for High Seas (along with gameguide) and updates to the game.

Return to Britannia:

Return to Britannia (RTB) is now open. You can go [here] to download the client of your choice and enter the game.

No other action is needed. If you have questions about your password or login please contact EA customer support [http://support.ea.com].

Yes, RTB is targeted for the release of High Seas but purchasing the booster is not a requirement. We wanted former players to come take a look on the Test Shard and also have a taste of smooth boat movement and mouse control in a live environment. Also, from many players who have returned they are astonished at how much the game has changed. As day-to-day players it’s sometimes difficult to realize how the game has grown and changed. We’d like to open the new experiences to former players, and get new eyes on an old and familiar playground.

While the release stated RTB will close on the day of launch, we have control over that date as well, so stay tuned.

Anniversary items:

Yes, they are planned and we are doing our best to get them to you in the next publish. If we miss the target we will run a smaller publish in the following week or two to get the items to you. The follow-up publish will also target features and fixes for High Seas, as well as content updates for the Live Event toward rebuilding Magincia.

And speaking of Anniversary …

I will be at the GDC Online conference in Austin next week along with Rich Vogel (EP for Star Wars: The Old Republic and the first Producer of Ultima Online) and each producer in Ultima Online’s history (along with Raph Koster) to accept the Hall of Fame Award. There will also be an opening address (via video recording) from Richard Garriott.

The EMs will be running a few interim events this weekend before we move on to the next story arc event. Take note of the fiction from earlier this week … and welcome to the heavy clouds and cooler days of Autumn.

From time to time, I like to take Ultima too seriously. Generally with my good friend captain nhbdy. One such time was during the ride from Fairfax VA to North Carolina. We had just been exposed to the first town hall in a while and had Ultima on the brains. Driving down the long road, mergadergah asleep in the back seat, I began to ramble like the mad nystul from ultima 7 about the shattering. What exactly were the physics of the shattering? what was the entire process like?

This is my take on it, and I would love to hear yours.

There existed out world, as we knew it. Single and unique. Floating in the endless void that is space, surrounded by 8 planets and two moons.

Now Mondain had this jewel, this gem of immortality... but it did not always encase the world as we knew it. In Sosaria, alchemy rivals magic in power, and that would mean that Mondain was the worlds greatest alchemist, and as we all know, Lord British, the worlds best mage.

To escape the hellish nightmare that is the Enchantress Minax, Lord British with his council of mages cast a spell to create facets of the realm they lived in. Thus the creation of Trammel and Felucca. These two new worlds were in fact mirrors of one another. And in lore, they should effect one another jointly. A decent example is the faction take overs in fel, and subsequent invasions in trammel during the warriors of destiny campaign.

My guess, is that Mondain was the first person to use this type of magic spell, and that he in fact replicated the world as it was in space, and placed this replica within the gem of immortality. The world was now bound by the gem.

Both worlds were now in a joint relationship. what happened to one would happen to the other in some shape or form. When the stranger felled Mondain, the gem was shattered, and the replicated world was.....well, replicated several times over. I theorize that this caused the original world to shatter as well. The original world was broken into as many pieces as Mondains gem, each with a corresponding replicated world to be joint with.

But what does this all mean?

Could an astronomer gaze into the night sky and see a world within a gem? Do we dwell in the original world or Mondains generated facet? When Lord British created trammel, did he really just bring the corresponding Original world in to the same realm as one of Mondains? (we all know he knows more about the shattering than he lets on *cough cough* My Story) IE: All of mondains shattered worlds were felucca's, and the shattered real worlds are trammels? This would explain why one is so harsh, as it was warped under the wrath of Mondain before it he was killed, creating orcs and headless ect.

The Purple Guardians of Honor (PGoH) is hosting an event they call the Honordays this weekend. The opening of the festival will be at the Galehaven tavern in the city of Olympus, starting Tonight (October 1) at 8 PM Eastern. For those who don't know where Galehaven, the Guardians will be providing gates to the event starting at about 7:30.

If you attend, be on your best behavior, as you'll have a new Stratics News Reporter writing notes for a report on the opening!

On Saturday, there will be a Scavenger Hunt, starting at 5:00 PM Eastern. Registration for teams and individuals starts at 4:30 at the Trinsic Moongate. There will be prizes awarded for the first team and the first individual to complete the list and return.